One Piece: Reborn
by Miss Meep
Summary: Rosaline was okay with dying, for the most part. What she wasn't okay with was being stuck in the afterlife for who knows how long before being reborn in a wacky world, with a wacky old guy calling her "Lu-chwan." Full description inside (it won't fit here). OC!Luffy story (no genderbending). LuNa.
1. Description

_**Description:** _ Everything was normal for Rosaline until _it_ happened: Amber was murdered. Rosaline did the only thing she could think of: fight for vengeance. The cops weren't going to do it, and she knew it. Given her choice, Rosaline, to be honest, wasn't that surprised when she died. She _was_ , however, surprised when she came to. In... she doesn't know where she was, but it was extremely dark, she couldn't feel her body, and she was there for a _long, long_ time before she woke up. With a body. As a man. She was okay with dying, for the most part. What she wasn't okay with was being stuck in the afterlife for who knows how long before being reborn in a wacky world, with a wacky old guy calling her "Lu-chwan."

 **Pairing?** OC!LuffyxNami

 **Warnings:** Violence, swearing, references to controversial subjects.


	2. Prologue

It felt wrong in so many ways, yet so right in others. Fighting, that was. Fighting for vengeance.

' _It isn't right. She should be with me. I have failed her and now she is dead.'_

I had felt on top of the world; nothing could bring me down, and I could beat anyone.

' _Except I couldn't.'_

I had died. I remember dying. I remember dying _very vividly_.

' _... But then... why am I not... dead?'_

I remember the fatal bullet piercing through my chest, lodging itself in my lungs, making me suffocate slowly to death, unable to breathe because of the blood filling my lungs.

I remember everything painfully fading into nothingness.

... Yet, here I am, wherever "here" is, anyway.

 _'Where in the_ hell _am_ _I?!_ ' I wondered.

 _~3rd Person Point of View~_

 _The glow of a soul was the only thing which permeated the blackness of the Afterlife. For hours, it wandered, all alone, until it glowed with a bright light and disappeared, to be reborn anew._

* * *

 ** _Hey there! The prologue was rather short and uneventful, sorry! Real chapters will be much, much longer (and I hope you find them more exciting, like I do! I will upload Chapter 1 Wednesday! Tuesday through Thursday are my upload days! :)_**  
 ** _This is my first story about something like this. Let me know if you all like the idea! :D_**  
 ** _I also just want to mention that yes, this story will be different than the original story. It's not going to be catastrophically different in that it's a different thing altogether, but it will be_ very _noticeably different and our dear main character's past life_ will _be detailed, though it will be quite a while until that happens. I mention this because a lot of stories which have someone die/get sent back in time that I've read do not change much at all, and I find that boring and redundant, so I'm making sure you all know my story will not be like that._**  
 ** _I was also thinking of doing kinda like an SBS at the end after 5th-10th chapter, where you PM me questions (not review) and I answer them at the end of the chapter. I didn't read anywhere that it's against the rules so it should be fine. Is that something you'd be interested in?_**

 ** _Till next time!_**

 ** _~ Tsukino Aisuru - A_**


	3. Chapter 1

The now new-born baby had a new respect for babies and children growing up. It was embarrassing, having to - _ahem_ \- _relieve_ himself in a diaper, having someone have to clean that and him up, having to be fed, and just overall not being able to take care of himself or even communicate well. He did, personally, believe he had a very good system going - loud cries for food, quiet cries to say "change my diaper" and normal coos for "I want attention."

One thing he was not looking forward to, despite this embarrassment, was growing up. One might ask, ' _why the hell wouldn't he wanna grow up_ '?

The reason was quite simple, yet he was still having a hard time coming to terms with it:

The former girl realized he wasn't quite born in the same type of world he had died in. At all.

His memories of his home were getting slightly fuzzy as time passed, and he didn't remember most of his favorite books or shows, or his early life, but he did remember the one Amber had gotten him into: _One Piece_.

Able to recall this particular inspiring and memorable anime/manga, he was reasonably surprised when an aging man he easily recognized as Monkey D Garp appeared irregularly, informed him of his new name, Monkey D Luffy, and began calling him, in a baby-talk cooing voice, his "adorable, cute grandson Lu-chwan." If he was being honest, the apparently baby Luffy was still having a hard time accepting his situation as reality.

But, anyway, life was nice and all until Garp informed him (in his baby-talk cooing voice) of the 'training' he'd be put under once he was able to properly walk. It went something like this, at the 5th month:

"Who's a cute wittle baby-waby? Dat's wight, Lu-chwan is! Lu-chwan is! And guess what else! Guess what cute Lu-chan is gonna start doing once he's older! He's gonna start twaining to become a big, stwong marine! Dat's wight! Grampa's gonna train him weal well! Lu-chan's gonna go in jungles, and big holes, and a whole bunch of fun training stuff!"

... Well... at least he was warned, right?

... Somehow, he assumed the training wasn't going to be as fun as Garp was trying to make it out to be. Not to mention, based on what he could remember of One Piece, the government _sucks_ , the marines are the government's _bitches_ , and he wanted nothing to do with _either_ of them, though he wasn't 100% sure he wanted to be the pirate king.

... Oh, who was he kidding? Who WOULDN'T want to do that...?

...

...

...

... He had a funny feeling that Garp wasn't going to like the viewpoints of his "adorable, cute grandson Lu-chan."

* * *

He was right about the training not being fun.

He was three was when Garp decided to teach him how to survive by throwing him in a jungle. Luckily, he had managed to convince Garp to let him read books from the library in Garp's ship whenever he could, and so knew most of what was and wasn't edible in the jungle, though he was doing a _lot_ of running from the local wildlife on his tiny legs.

Most recently, three-year-old Luffy found out he was quite skilled at tree climbing, much to _his_ pleasure...

... And the _dis_ pleasure of the large bear who wanted to have him for lunch, as it was rather slow climbing trees, which gave him plenty of time to escape.

This was just the beginning of his "survival training."

* * *

 ** _Three Years Later_**

* * *

It was just before noon when Luffy yawned and stretched, walking down the dirt path between the short wooden fences to go to Makino's tavern, hoping his Grampa wouldn't be here today. Or tomorrow.

... Or anytime soon, for that matter, unless he had some kind of epiphany and decided to start hugging his grandson to show his love instead of punching him (which was never going to happen, everyone knew).

The six-year-old was confused, as he neared Foosha Village, as the only sound he could hear in the normally semi-loud village were the sounds of the seagulls. When he entered the village just minutes later, he stared with a dropped jaw at the group of people being led into Makino's bar, by the owner herself, and, somehow the boy was not noticed.

' _Nope._ ' The boy decided. ' _Nope, nope-itty nope-nope-nope. That is NOT Shanks. THE Shanks._ '

After collecting himself and looking around for a moment, he decided to pretend he hadn't just seen the infamous red-haired pirate and his crew, and walk in to greet Makino, as he had for most of his memory of his current life.

He "casually" walked into the unusually loud tavern, where, inside, he saw a rather large crew of pirates throwing a party, sake being passed all around. After looking around for a moment, his eyes settled on a certain straw-hat wearing captain.

' _... That is Shanks. THE Shanks._ ' The black-haired boy mentally amended.

"Ah! Luffy!" A female voice rang out.

His eyes lit up and he smiled and waved at the black-haired woman rushing towards him. "Hi, Makin-UWOOOHH!" His greeting turned into something of an oof as he was suddenly picked up and carried to the kitchen, much to the amusement of the pirates. "... Hi, Makino?" He asked tentatively after he was placed, sitting down, on the counter.

She smiled nervously. "Hi, Luffy!"

' _Chance!_ '

"Why'd you bring me in here? Do you want me to help with something? I'd love to help!" He grinned up at her.

"..." She stared blankly at the 6-year old for a moment before her eyes lit up. ' _I don't know if these pirates are good people yet, so I should keep Luffy away from them. He might make a mess since he's just a kid but this is better than him being in danger._ ' "Y'know what? Yes! I'd like you to help me."

Slowly, Luffy rose a fist in the air. "VICTORY! After so long of trying to get you to let me help out, I have succeeded!" He cheered.

Makino giggled at him and picked up a bag out of a cabinet, pulling several items out of it. "Alright, then, could you peel these potatoes and carrots for me? They're for lunch."

He pouted for a moment at the simple task, but decided that when she started understanding that he was absolutely awesome at cooking (primarily baking), she'd give him more things to do, and smiled widely at her. "No problem!"

She giggled once more at him and pulled out a peeler. "Let me show you how."

"Oh, that's okay. I know how."

"Really?" Makino chuckled at the young boy and handed him the peeler. "Can you show me how, then?"

"Yep," he nodded, snatching up a potato and peeling it like a professional, much to the young woman's surprise. "See?"

She was bewildered. "Where did you learn to do that, Luffy?"

He turned to stare at her intently for a moment, seriously thinking about her question. "... I don't remember."

She hummed. "Well... Be careful with that, Luffy. You don't want to cut yourself," She instructed. "I have to go tend to our guests, but I'll be back soon."

The boy smiled, "I'll be careful; I promise!"

Makino smiled at him, satisfied, and went to bring the pirate crew more sake.

* * *

 ** _That Night_**

* * *

Luffy calmly licked on his lollipop (his reward for work well done, and listening to Makino) as he casually strolled back out into the main room of the bar, where all of the pirates were now strewn about, completely knocked out. He grinned past his candy at how hilarious they seemed to look.

"You guys are going to catch a cold if you sleep on the floor," he informed the unconscious captain.

"Now, Luffy, don't wake him up," Makino instructed firmly, yet gently.

"M'kay. Can I meet them tomorrow if they're still here?" He questioned.

She paused, considering his question for a moment. "... Alright, as long as you stay where I can see you."

"Deal," he smiled, and, with an exchanged good-night, went to his very-out-of-the-way home to go to sleep.

Upon arriving home, the young boy went straight to his room, pulled a thick journal out from under his mattress and began flipping through it intently.

"Let's see... did I write down where I learned how to peel potatoes? Who taught me how to bake those cookies...? Fucking past-life memory loss. I can't remember any of that," he scowled, lines forming between his creased brows before a grin formed on his face. "Aha! My mom taught me," he exclaimed in triumph. "Well, I guess I couldn't tell that to Makino anyway. I can't even remember my mom from _this_ life, or why she's not here now..." He sighed. "Plus I don't like lying to her."

It was silent for several minutes as the now-child, once again, read through his journal.

"I really need to come up for plans for the future. I'm not the original Monkey D Luffy. I don't have to do things like he did, either. This is _my_ life. I need to figure out what I'm going to do to save Ace...! I have no ideas other than to become strong enough, but I don't think that will be enough," he sighed once again, "and I probably won't have my crew with me, either, 'cause if the situation comes about, I am _so_ decking that fucking World Noble... Hell, there's no guarantee things are even going to happen the same in this universe, so I might be stressing out for nothing. This entire situation sucks. I'm going to sleep."

And sleep he did.

* * *

"I'm gonna meet the pirates~! I'm gonna meet the pirates~!" The boy sang as he skipped along the same dirt road as before, still sweaty from his self-training, as he was every day.

Today, the town was normal, and, for a moment, he wondered if the pirates had already left and he was supposed to have interacted with Shanks and his crew and that would have somehow made them stay so he could hang out with them, but his fears were abolished when he neared Partys Bar and heard the party going on inside. He sighed in relief, grinning hugely, and made to go inside.

"Oi, Luffy!" A voice stopped him. Luffy turned to see the mayor, Woop Slap, approaching him. "There are pirates in there, you shouldn't go in!"

"... Why?" Luffy asked his mayor, still grinning.

"I just said, because there are pirates in there!"

"... Why?"

"Because they want to drink!"

"Why?"

"Because they like- OHHH, NO, Luffy! You are NOT doing this again!" Woop Slap had finally caught on to what the mischievous boy was doing. "Don't hang around the pirates!"

"Why?"

"GOD DAMNIT, LUFFY, STOP ASKING ME WHY!"

"Ahahaha, if the kid wants to hang around the pirates, why not let him?" One villager laughed.

"Yep, we all know you're going to lose his 'why' game anyway; you always do," another snickered, and, as the mayor opened his mouth to respond, added, "besides, he's already gone. He left the moment you took your eyes off him."

Woop Slap's eyes bulged in shock.

* * *

Snickering at the mayor's surprised and angered shout when he realized that Luffy had slipped away, the said child casually strolled up to the bar's counter and took a seat on a stool.

"Good afternoon, Makino," he grinned. "You're not gonna drag me off to the kitchen again today, right? 'Cause you said I can meet them."

Makino smiled, bemused. "I did say that. Do you remember what else I said?"

"I can only meet them as long as I stay where you can see me," he responded immediately. "I never forget my promises."

"Good, Luffy!" Makino praised. "Would you like me to get you something to eat?"

"Sure! I promise I'll pay you back one day, too, Makino, really!"

"And how are you going to do that, kid?" An amused voice asked.

Luffy blinked, turning to his left. ' _Ermergerd, it's Shanks!_ ' his inner fangirl- ahem, fan _boy_ , squealed. Outwards, his expression didn't change a bit. "When I get older, I'm going to become a pirate, gather a crew, and eventually become the Pirate King to be the most free man in the entire world," he replied calmly, "and when that happens, I'm going to come visit and pay Makino back with the treasure I get, plus interest."

The bar went silent.

Makino giggled after a moment. "I thought your Grampa said he's going to make you a strong marine. Is he wrong?"

"Yep," Luffy nodded calmly. "I'm going to be a pirate. Don't tell him that, though! He'll kick my ass to the moon and back!"

Shanks burst out laughing suddenly, a friendly grin on his face, and seemingly decided to tease the child a bit. "And how is a kid like you supposed to be a pirate? As if!"

To Shanks's surprise, Luffy didn't get pissed off and yell at him; he merely shrugged, then turned and gave him a familiar-looking grin. "I know I'm going to be the Pirate King one day. I don't really care what you think."

"..." Everyone stared at him for a moment, many, like Shanks, having a grin forming on their faces. "Hey, how old are you, brat?" Shanks asked.

"About six."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Luffy is very mature for his age," Makino giggled. "Isn't he cute?"

* * *

 ** _Foosha village is a small seaport._**

 ** _About one year ago... a pirate ship landed here._**

 ** _The East Wind..._**

"Oi! Heya, Luffy!" Shanks called from up place on his ship. "Come up here, I have something for you!"

 ** _A small, peaceful village._**

"M'kay, Shanks!"

 ** _A child from the village, Monkey D Luffy._**

Luffy promptly tripped over his own feet halfway up the ship and fell on his face. "Ow."

Shanks and his crew, being who they were, promptly began laughing hysterically at his misfortune.

* * *

"Let's drink up and celebrate! To Luffy's clumsiness, and to our greatness!"

"Ass."

This remark was ignored.

"Ga ha ha ha, drink! Drink!"

"Sake, sake! Bring out more sake!"

"Idiot! That's _my_ meat!"

"Shut up! It's mine!"

"Yo, cut it out! To brawl while you're drunk is so shameful!"

"You guys look for any reason to party!" Luffy laughed, ignoring the rather large bump on his head.

"That's the best way!" Shanks laughed. "Partying is a blast!"

"Damn right!" One of his crew members cheered, and was followed by more cheering.

"Never said it was a bad thing," Luffy grinned.

"Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you this, by why are you always over in town only around noon and past? Do you really sleep that late?" Shanks asked suddenly, turning to look at Luffy,

"Oh, that? Well, since I'm going to be a pirate when I'm older, and Gramps always puts me through 'Hell' he calls 'training' because he wants to make me a 'strong man,' or, more specifically, marine, and a few other reasons, I decided that I should train a lot so I could become strong enough to protect the people I care about. Oh, and myself."

"Hohhh? What kind of training?" He looked unimpressed.

Luffy deadpanned. "The kind my gramps does or the kind I do?"

"Both," Shanks grinned.

"Well, I mainly run a lot, do sit-ups, push-ups, other exercises, and punch and kick innocent trees."

"Laaaame."

"My grampa punches me, kicks me, throws me in ravines, jungles, giant holes, and rivers, ties balloons to me and lets me float away, that kind of stuff."

"WHO THE HELL IS YOUR GRAMPA?!" Everyone who had been listening except Makino shouted. Makino merely sighed and sadly smiled at the abused boy.

"Uhm... Sorry, but I promised Makino I wouldn't tell you all who he is."

Both Luffy and Makino got a few raised eyebrows at this, but they shrugged it off after Luffy grinned, laughed, and told them they looked stupid like that.

The party dedicated to Luffy's clumsiness and the Red-Hair Pirates' greatness went on for several minutes before Luffy suddenly called out to Shanks.

"What is it?" Shanks asked, a spoon in his mouth.

"How much longer are you going to stay?" He tilted his head to the side.

"Well... It's almost been a year," the pirate captain mused, "since we've used this town as our base. I plan on setting sail a couple more times, then we'll leave this town and head north."

"M'kay. I'm going to make you stop making fun of my dream by then."

"Alright! Good luck," Shanks laughed.

The door of the tavern slammed open, revealing several dark figures. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards them.

"Excuse me!" One of their voices rang out. "Hehe... So this is what pirates look like, huh? This is the first time I've seen pirates. They look pretty dumb to me."

Everyone was silent and kept their eyes on them as they walked inside Partys Bar.

Luffy merely watched with a passive face, knowing what would happen next.

Their leader stopped next to Shanks and in front of Makino, placing his hand on the counter for a moment before lifting it to stroke his beard. "We are bandits. We're not here to cause any trouble; we just wanna buy 10 barrels of sake."

Barely noticeable sweat appeared on Makino's forehead. "I'm so sorry, but we are out of sake."

"Oh? That's strange. Then what are they drinking?" He pointed at the pirates behind him, "is it water?"

"It's sake," Makino answered, "but that's all we have."

"I'm sorry," Shanks spoke up, "it looks like we've finished all the sake here. Sorry about that." He lifted his unopened bottle of sake. "Here," he offered, "if you don't mind, take the last bottle."

The bandit silently stared at Shanks for a moment before back-fisting the bottle, effectively smashing it, making the sake spill all over both Shanks and the floor. Luffy, having been sitting next to Shanks when that had happened, flinched back from the broken glass that nearly got him and held back a groan as he was partially covered in sake, as well.

Everyone stared, be it in horror (Makino), silence (the pirates and Luffy) or mirth (the bandits).

Their leader held up his fist where he had punched the bottle. "Just who do you think I am? Don't take me so lightly. One bottle is not enough!"

Shanks looked down at the floor, looking genuinely concerned. "Oh, no- now the floor is all wet!"

The bandit held up his wanted poster. "See this? My head is worth eight million beri. I'm one of the prime fugitives here, and I've killed 56 people before, you cocky bastard." His shoulders were hunched and he was smiling at Shanks with a rather cocky smile. "Now that you know who I am, don't mess with us again. After all, mountain bandits and sea pirates don't mingle very well."

 _Clink..._

Shanks bent down and picked up the bottom of the broken sake bottle.

"Sorry about that, Makino. Do you have a mop?"

She recoiled in shock. "Ah... It's alright, I'll clean it up!"

The bandit looked on in disdain as he drew his sword.

 _Gashyan!_

He sliced the top of the counter, successfully damaging both it and creating a bigger mess of the dishes that had been up there.

Luffy had cleared the general area once he saw the bandit's hand raising to his sword.

"Well, it seems you really enjoy cleaning. Now you can enjoy doing it more," he said, looking down his nose at Shanks, who held on to his hat. "Hmph," the bandit grumbled as he turned and began walking away, not refraining from calling over his shoulder some last-minute insults. "Later, you bunch of chickens!" The occupants of the bar heard him complaining as he left to his friends, "what a pathetic town. It doesn't even have sake. Let's move on to the next town."

Everyone was silent for a few moments after they were gone before Makino rushed over to Shanks, kneeling down in front of where he sat in a pool of sake on the floor. "Are you alright, Captain?! Did you get hurt?"

"No, I'm fine," he said, lifting his hand up. He rose his head up. "Phew!"

The bar went up in an uproar not a moment later.

"AHHHH HAHAHHAHAHA! Our captain looked so silly!"

"He fixed you up good, captain!" Another laughed.

"KYAHAHAHAHA!"

Shanks himself took of his hat, threw his head back, and laughed with them at himself. "Haa haa haa haa haa!"

"Oi, Shanks," Luffy grinned, happy to get a chance to get back at the pirate.

"Hmm?" Shanks grinned.

"Hmm, what was it exactly that you called me earlier? Oh, that's right. _Laaaame._ "

"Dahahahaha!" Shanks burst out laughing again. "I wouldn't be talking, pipsqueak!"

"You got sake spilled all over me, you ass. I smell like alcohol."

"Hey, that's not that much of a bad thing."

"I'm seven."

"Thought you were six?"

"Really, Shanks? We celebrated my birthday, _with you_ , two weeks ago."

"OH! That's right, we did!"

"You seriously forgot, you ass."

"Pipsqueak!"

"Ass!"

"That all you got, anchor?"

"... Ginger."

* * *

 ** _Argh! Beginnings are always the hardest for me! And this chapter wasn't very intense either. Meep :(_**

 ** _By the way, I'm mostly following the manga cannon for major events/details. Stuff from the anime will be in here too, but only the stuff I like. For example, in the anime, Makino's hair is green. In the manga, it is black. Therefor, in my story, it is black._**

 ** _Well, not much changed this chapter from cannon, but... well, mainly only the Higuma scene did not change. More intense changes will happen tomorrow. Aieee! I'm excited for what I have planned!_**

 ** _Did you all like this chapter? Please let me know! :)_**


	4. Chapter 2

It was, once again, midday as Luffy happily strolled down the path in his village. Today, Makino had sent him to buy some fish for her, which he happily obliged to. When he returned, Makino gave him a glass of juice to drink while he sat on a stool at the bar's counter.

"They've been away for awhile now. Are you lonely, Luffy?" She asked, smiling as she held the sack of fish.

"Eh. It gets real quiet here without them. Weird since they've been here so long. But you're here so I'm not lonely, saa."

Makino giggled. "I'm glad to hear that, Luffy."

A mischievous glint appeared in Luffy's eyes. "Are _you_ lonely here without Shanks? I know how much you like him."

The poor woman nearly dropped the fish in shock, a blush quickly appearing on her face. "Wha- no! I mean, yes-! I mean-! What did you mean by that?"

He feigned innocence immediately. "What do you mean what do I mean? You're friends, aren't you? So you're lonely without him?"

She blinked several times at the innocent-looking future pirate, and slowly relaxed and smiled once more, giggling. "Oh! Yes, we're friends, and of course I miss him, but I have my friends here, and you, so I'm not lonely."

He grinned. "Eeheeheehee!"

The door opened. "Excuse me."

Luffy lit up for a moment, and both he and Makino turned to see who had entered. Luffy made a choking noise, a forced open-mouthed grin on his face while his eyebrows twitched when he saw who it was.

"Well, it looks like the pirates aren't here today. It sure is quiet," the bandit leader stated as he and his gang walked into the bar. He then decided to state the obvious, "we're back again," as they sat down. He banged his hand on the counter, snapping, "what are you waiting for?! We're customers! BRING US SOME SAKE!"

"Ah! Uh! Okay!" Makino stammered, hurrying to meet his demands. Luffy turned around and glared at his glass, swishing around the water.

' _She deserved to be treated much better than that._ ' He thought to himself, scowling. His fist was clenched tightly on his lap, trembling slightly with anger. ' _I won't do anything. No matter what they say about Shanks. I won't do anything. Not unless I have to._ '

His mantra was mentally repeated many times within the hour, his blood boiling the entire time. His drink hadn't been touched since they had entered.

The bandits continued drinking, getting quite drunk, and seemed to greatly enjoy talking shit about Shanks, though neither Makino nor Luffy were quite as amused, the latter burning with the barely controlled urge to beat the crap out of them.

He probably would have been able to control himself had one of the extremely plastered bandits not grabbed Makino's bottom, causing her to shriek in shock.

At the sound, Luffy's head had immediately whipped around to see what was wrong. The temperature of the room seemed to lower a few degrees.

A bandit was holding her arm with one hand and her bum with the other.

She glared at him. " _Let me go right now_ ," she seethed, the look on her face promising pain.

"Hooh? Or what, pretty lady?" He grinned. The other bandits merely laughed. She pulled on her arm, trying to break free, but he only pulled her closer-

 _WHAM!_

"AGH!"

 _THUD!_

The offending bandit was sent sailing back several feet, landing with a loud thud on the floor several feet away.

A young boy was standing next to Makino in a stance that clearly showed he was the one to have assaulted the bandit.

"The woman set to _let her go_ ," he stated lowly.

* * *

"Chief, hurry! Something bad has happened!" Makino cried out, slamming the door of his office open.

"What's wrong, Makino? What's this fuss about?" He asked, raising his eyebrow and putting his cup of tea down.

"Luffy is... being chased by the bandits!" She panted.

* * *

"AIEEEEE!"

The sound of a young boy's screams pierced the air in the village of Windmills as he ran towards the sea, making the bandits chase him in circles and loops along the way.

' _THIS COULD HAVE BEEN THOUGHT OUT BETTER!_ ' The boy mentally berated himself. ' _And why can't I get this stupid devil fruit to WORK, DAMNIT?!_ '

He promptly tripped over his own feet.

The bandits, being assholes, laughed hysterically at him as they circled him.

"So not only is he an idiot, a weakling, and annoying, but also a clutz!" One laughed, receiving a dirty look from said clutz.

"You've pissed me off real bad, kid," the leader of the bandits, Higuma sneered, a triumphant smirk on his face as Luffy slowly stood up, breathing hard.

The villagers whispered amongst themselves as this was going on.

"Hey, go save Luffy!" One urged the other in a hushed tone.

"But... they're bandits! We could be killed!" He hissed back. "Besides, Luffy messed with them in the first place!"

Luffy's eyes widened slightly in surprise as the leader of the bandits began drawing his sword. "You've made me so angry. I've decided to kill you, brat. I've killed 56 people who've messed with me before, and now it's gonna be 57."

* * *

"Are you sure they went this way?" The chief panted as he followed Makino, the two running down the main road.

"Yes, I am!" Makino answered, her chest heaving.

" _EEGYAHHHH! THAT FUCKING HUUUUURTS!_ " A familiar voice screamed.

"LUFFY!" Makino screamed, terrified for the little boy as she and the chief rounded the corner to see the group of bandits surrounding... a floating cloud. "Wha-?"

The bandits stared blankly at the screaming cloud, in disbelief.

"That annoying brat... just turned into a cloud." One stated.

"I was wondering why no one welcomed us at the port... So this is why," another familiar voice spoke up from behind Makino and the chief, who both jumped and turned to see Shanks, with his eyes shadowed. He lifted his head up. "Hey, you guys are the bandits from the other day!"

"Captain!" Makino exclaimed, looking at him as he walked and stopped just past her.

" _Ah...! I was just kidding. That totally didn't hurt,_ " the disembodied voice of the pirate-to-be claimed.

"I was just going to ask about that. What did they do to you, Luffy? I heard you screaming."

" _... I take it you don't believe me that it didn't hurt. Damn. Well, first they came into the bar, treated Makino-chan like shit and talked shit about you guys. That pissed me off, and I wasn't gonna do anything, but then one of the drunk assholes decided to grab Makino's butt, so I decked him, then they tried to kill me, so I ran like hell, but I tripped and fell, then the Higuma-dumbass slashed my face and woulda killed me if I didn't poof into a cloud for the first time._ "

"... He violated Makino and slashed you up?" He repeated slowly, lowering his head so that his eyes were shadowed once more. The bandits, apparently not sensing their imminent doom, smirked and laughed at him.

" _... Yeah._ " There was a bit of shame in his voice, which Shanks assumed to be because he had both let Makino be violated, however briefly, and gotten slashed pretty bad when he tried to protect her. " _Ah, crap! What the fuck is happening this time?!_ " The boy panicked. The cloud which seemed to be the boy was shifting, getting larger, and becoming an even darker shade of grey than before. Moments later, rain began pouring out of the cloud. " _Seriously?! I'm raining?! Goddamnit!_ "

Shanks smiled slightly at Luffy before reverting his eyes back to the bandits, some of whom were now being rained on (and cussing out Luffy for it). Higuma somehow ignored this development and turned his whole attention onto Shanks, who was slowly approaching him.

"Pirate... Why are you still here? Are you going to clean up the whole town this time?" He snorted, slightly raising his sword. "... I suggest you leave right now, or I might have to open fire on you, you coward."

Shanks stopped when a bandit held a gun to his head and turned off the safety. "Didn't you hear?! You were told not to come any closer! Do you want to get shot? Hahahaha!"

"Heh heh heh heh!" The other bandits laughed.

Shanks looked at the bandit holding the gun to his head with a seemingly jovial grin. "Well, since you've pulled out your gun, I guess we'll _really_ have to fight."

"Huh?! What'd you say?!" The bandit demanded, definitely not having expected that answer.

"I said," Shanks replied, pointing at the gun, "don't use this to scare people."

Shanks's smile faded when a gunshot rang out at the end of his sentence, the bandit who was holding the gun to his head falling to the floor. Lucky Roo was now beside Shanks, his gun steaming as he ripped off a piece of his meat.

Luffy suddenly began feeling slightly dizzy as his rain slowed to a light drizzle.

The bandits, Makino and Woop Slap stared in shock at the fallen bandit.

"N... Now you've done it, bastard!" One spluttered.

"Damn it... That was dirty!" Another growled.

"Dirty?" Yasopp rose an eyebrow, his arms crossed..

Ben Beckman stared calmly, hands in his pockets "Don't make us laugh. Do you think we're saints or something?"

"The people standing in front of you... are _pirates_ ," Shanks finished, his left hand hovering near his sword's handle.

"... Shut up! This is none of your business!" A bandit shouted.

" **Listen well, bandits... You can whip food or sake at me... or even spit on me. I can laugh it off... but!** " Shanks snarled, his expression turning deadly as he glared at the bandits. " ** _I don't care what reasons you have! I won't forgive anyone who messes with my friends!_** "

" _Shanks..._ " Luffy quietly breathed in amazement. Even though he was a cloud right now, and a dizzy and confused one at that, he could still hear and see, and was truly awed (and touched) by Shanks's speech.

"Ha ha ha ha! 'Won't forgive me'?!" Higuma laughed, then jabbed a finger at Shanks. "You bunch of pirates who float around on a ship all day want to challenge us?! We will destroy you!"

"U-oooo!" The bandits shouted, charging at the pirates while their leader stood there and did nothing. "Go to Hell!"

"Let me deal with this..." Ben said, holding up his gun. "... I can take care of them myself."

As a bandit neared him, he pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and, when the bandit got close enough, stepped forward and pressed the hot end onto the bandit's forehead.

" _HWAHHHH_!" As the bandit fell to the ground, clutching his forehead, Ben readied his rifle and beat the rest of the bandits, using the rifle as a bat.

When he was finished, he lit another cigarette in his mouth with one hand as he held up his rifle, pointing it at the bandits, with his other hand. "Don't overestimate yourselves, bandits...!" He put a hand on his hip. "If you want to fight us, you better get a fleet of marines to back you up."

"Amazing..." Makino breathed.

Higuma was now scared. "... Ah! Wait a minute... This little brat messed with us first!"

"No he didn't, and besides, it doesn't matter. Afterall, there's a reward on your head," Shanks stated.

" _Hey, guys, I don't feel too good..._ " Luffy wheezed. His rain was nearly gone, and his cloudiness didn't look quite as full as before.

"Hmph!" The bandit threw something on the ground, causing the area to go up in smoke.

" **Smoke bomb!** " Shanks gasped.

The smoke cleared seconds later, revealing no Higuma and a very wispy cloud.

" _Now I_ really _don't feel good... It hurts... How do I turn back...?_ "

Everyone stared worriedly at the wispy cloud.

"... No clue," Shanks stated.

" _Very helpful... By the way, the ass went towards the ocean._ "

"That doesn't really matter anymore," Shanks sighed. "So long as you're safe now."

" _But... I'm not... I feel really-_ "

The boy was cut off as he turned from cloud to human and passed out, falling to the ground with a loud _thump_.

"LUFFY!" Everyone shouted in concern.

* * *

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Looks like I got away! Who would've thought that a bandit would escape by boat?!" He laughed some more.

And more.

And louder.

And more.

... And y'know what? He laughed some more again!

He laughed until the waters around his dinky boat rippled, and he laughed some more.

He laughed until a large figure emerged from the water, and, not noticing it, he laughed some more.

He laughed until the large creature bumped into the boat, roughly moving it, and cast a shadow over him.

Then, he stopped laughing.

Then, he slowly turned and stared in terror at the menacing sea king one wouldn't usually expect to see in the waters of the East Blue.

"Wh... Where did it come from?!" He gasped.

He screamed as the sea creature's jaws clamped around him.

* * *

Days later, Luffy's eyes slowly cracked open. He opened his mouth to speak, but found he couldn't as his mouth was too dry. Actually, he felt extremely dry in general. His eyes, his nose, his mouth, his everything! There was also an aching pain mainly in his hands, feet, on his face and around his stomach. He faintly heard people talking and swiveled his head to the side. Everything was blurry, but he could make out a red blob he decided was Shanks, and another blob he decided was Makino. He was pretty sure the third blob was the village's doctor. The third blob moved forward and lifted up his head, giving him some water to drink, which he did before passing out again.

Two days later, this process was repeated, with more water this time before he passed out again. The day after, he was able to drink some soup before he passed out again. The intervals between him passing out greatly shortened within the next five days, and he was soon not passing out anymore, much to everyone's relief.

"Man, you really scared the crap outta me, anchor," Shanks sighed, his hand on his hat.

"Saa... Sorry 'bout that. It turns out Logias are hard to control, and force me into turning into my element form and pouring out nearly all of the fluid in my body."

Shanks sweatdropped. "No, I think that's just you."

"Rude."

"Dahahahaha! Well, I'm glad to see you're doing alright now. But, something even weirder happened to you than just that," Shanks grinned at the slightly mummified child.

"Really? What possibly could've happened to be that was weirder than that?" Luffy wasn't sure if he believed Shanks.

"See that bandage around your stomach?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, _this_ -" Shanks reached over to the bedside table and retrieved a box, "-was in your gut."

Luffy deadpanned, taking the box and inspecting it. "I don't believe you. If this box was in me-"

"Nonono, I mean what's _in_ the box, not the box itself."

"That makes more sense," the raven-head nodded. "But I'm still skeptical."

"Open it!" Shanks urged.

Luffy rolled his eyes and sighed, lifting up the top of the box. When he saw what was inside, his heart skipped a beat.

There, inside the box, was a necklace. It was one of those necklaces with little metal rectangles that had different types of gems in their centers. All of the rectangles were silverish except one hanging down from another, which was gold, with a ruby heart in the middle. They were connected by straight, black metal.

"This is..." He gaped, pale.

"You recognize it?" Shanks asked, for once serious.

"But how was it... why was it...?"

"You recognize it," Shanks stated.

"..." Slowly, Luffy looked up at the redhead and nodded, still pale. "This is impossible."

Shanks merely stared at Luffy, fully expecting an explanation.

Luffy looked back at the necklace and gingerly picked it up in his hand, inspecting it. "This is... the necklace Amber gave me... The necklace she got from her mother before she died... The necklace she asked me to keep to remember her... when she died." Luffy's shoulders slumped suddenly, and the seven-year-old looked as if a terrible burden had suddenly been placed upon his shoulders.

Shanks stayed silent and continued staring at the boy, questions burning in his eyes. ' _I didn't expect to run into something like this in East Blue. This stuff usually happens in the Grand Line. Just what are you hiding, Luffy?_ '

"I guess you're wondering how I'm so mature for my age. Everyone does."

"Been wondering that for a long time, Luffy."

"My name was Rosaline before..."

"Hah?" Shanks sweat-dropped.

"My name was Rosaline before I died. But I don't really want to talk about it."

"..." Shanks stared, bewildered at Luffy. "... What the hell are you talking about?"

Luffy sighed heavily. "I was a woman and I reincarnated when I died... Amber was the woman I loved dearly and wanted to be with for the rest of my life... On her deathbed... she gave me this necklace... and asked me to keep it safe... and to always remember her. To move on.. but to always... remember her..."

He was crying by now, staring at the necklace.

"This was her greatest treasure."

To say Shanks was surprised would be an understatement. "Luffy..." But to say he didn't feel any sympathy to the boy would be a lie.

"How the fuck was it in my gut?" he cried as he clutched it to him. "I don't get it! I don't mind but I don't get it!"

Slowly, Shanks leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the not-so-young seven-year-old boy. "I dunno, Luffy. I dunno."

* * *

"So you're really leaving this time, huh, ginger?" The no-longer-bandaged boy asked with a grin, now donning the necklace that had been in his gut (with a string tied to it since it was currently too large) and a diagonal scar stretching from above his right eyebrow to beneath his left cheek.

"Yep," Shanks confirmed. "We've stayed here long enough. It's about time we move on. Are you upset?"

"Just a little, 'cause I'll miss you guys, but you're all strong pirates. A little village in East Blue will only satisfy you guys for so long." The short boy shrugged. "I'll be leaving here, too, when I'm older, to become a pirate."

Shanks merely grinned. "Like I've said before, there's no way a kid like you is going to ever make it as a pirate."

This time, Luffy had had it. " **YES, I WILL!** " He snapped. " **I'm gonna be a pirate, and I'm gonna become even better than YOU one day, me and my whole future crew, and I'll become the KING OF THE PIRATES, so just SHUT IT!** "

"..." Shanks smiled at Luffy. "Oh...! So you want to be bigger than us, huh...?" He lifted his head to the sky and placed a hand on his hat. "... Well then... **This hat,** " he took off his hat, crouched down and placed it on Luffy's head, " **is my gift to you.** "

Luffy bowed his head, teeth grit and fists clenched.

"This is my favorite hat, you know."

" **...!** " Luffy's silence was answer enough.

"When you become a great pirate in the future, you'll return that hat to me," Shanks said as he was walking away to his ship, smiling.

When he was up on the ship, he stood next to Ben Beckman, who stated, "That kid's going to be big."

"I know," Shanks replied, his eyes closed as he smiled, "because he reminds me of my earlier years." He turned to face his crew. " **Pull up the anchor! Set sail!** "

 ** _And the youth's journey began here ten years later._**

* * *

 ** _10 years later._**

"He finally left, Chief," Makino smiled, her hands on her hip, as she looked out at the ocean.

"He'll ruin this town's reputation!" The chief declared as he scowled, arms crossed as he did the same.

"I never thought he would be so serious about it!" A random villager in overalls laughed, doing the same as the other two.

* * *

" _Ahhh_... The weather sure is nice today," a man sighed happily, laying down in a moderately-large dinghy.

" ** _GRRRAAAHH!_** "

The man immediately sat up, looking with a grin at the sea king. "Oh-hoh, looky what we have here. The Monster of the Coast. Sorry to say, you have no chance."

 ** _Crackle! ZAP!_**

"Gr... Grahowhhhhlll..."

 ** _Spash!_**

 ** _Boom!_**

"Alright, now I'm really going! I'm going to be... the King of the Pirates!"

Luffy smiled and sailed away from the island, leaving behind memories, a steaming sea king and the echoes of thunder.

 _ **Without any friends, he set sail on a little boat.**_

 _ **The journey has begun!**_

* * *

 ** _Whoo! I'm so excited because the next chapter is where the fun really starts, guys! We're over with the Romance Dawn part of the manga. I updated the cover picture to something I made myself. The skull, hat, sword, necklace, and cloud make up OC!Luffy's jolly roger. That's the crew's jolly roger. I spent all day on it. First I drew it in pencil, then I put it on my computer and photoshopped it. The photoshop was the hard part because I've never used it before. I think it turned out well! You can see it bigger on my deviantart, which there is a link to on my profile. I haven't posted recent stuff on it yet except that, but I will be posting more artwork for this fanfic while I'm writing it. Next will be my artwork of OC!Luffy, whose appearance is mostly the same as original Luffy. I'd really appreciate feedback on that._**

 ** _For some reason, the lines I place to separate parts of the story sometimes aren't working... Does anyone know why?_**

 ** _It's been so close to cannon lately it makes me sad. Thankfully I have much better things planned for his journey to be the pirate king, which is primarily where I wanted to change stuff anyway. I'm just happy to be out of child-Lu land for now._**

 ** _Please let me know what you think! :)_**


	5. Chapter 3

"Ahhh, the breeze feels so nice," the straw hat wearing teen sighed happily as he sat between seats in his small boat, his booted feet crossed on one and his arms folded behind his bed. "Boy am I glad we missed that giant whirlpool, eh? That woulda been bad."

His companions ignored him, one yawning and stretching.

"You guys are assholes," Luffy stated, smiling fondly, "but you're my assholes."

"Purrrr-meow!" One of the assholes meowed as he left the very small cabin at the back of the boat. "Mroww!"

"What, are you hungry?" The only human on board chuckled.

All cats perked up at the word "hungry."

"Meow!"

"Mrow!"

"Meyah!"

"Purrrr-myah!"

Luffy sweatdropped. "I'll take that as a 'yes,'" he decided. "You guys really are assholes... using me for food," he grumbled, getting up and walking into the (once again, small) cabin. It was only five and a half feet in length, six feet in width and six in height - the boat didn't have much room when it was currently housing a man and four cats. Luffy chuckled at the cats crowding around him and placed one small fish on each of four plates, which they immediately attacked ravenously. "You guys eat so much meat. You're lucky I don't eat much meat, otherwise we'd have storage problems."

One of the cats had the decency to pause eating to meow loudly at him, which he, personally, took as a "hey, thanks, man!" and scratched the fluffy cats head. "You're so cute!" He cooed to the orange tabby before going back outside.

"Ah..." He smiled, looking at the horizon, then pulled out a map from a small box on the deck. "Let's see... Yep, that's an island alright. Not the one I was heading for, but one on the way. Might as well stop off at it," he shrugged and stared at the horizon, where the island was still just a small dot. "Let's see... we should land in about three hours, with the current wind. Might as well take a nap."

* * *

A woman's finger pressed and trailed along the railing of a ship, squeaking as it did so. She lifted her hand and inspected her now slightly dusty finger with anger. "Why is there so much dust?"

"S... Sorry about that, Alvida-sama!" A crew member exclaimed, crouching slightly with his hands held up. "I thought I've already cleaned the whole deck! I'll clean it again, so please don't...!"

"Don't do what?" She responded, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Please don't hit me with your bludgeon...! I don't want to dieee!" His plead was for naught as the moment it left his lips, he was struck with the bludgeon.

"Coby! What's the most beautiful thing in all the seas?" A large woman demanded.

"Eh... eh hehehehe, of course that'll be... That'll be you, Alvida-sama! Ehehehe," A short, nerdy-looking boy responded, trembling in fear as he rubbed the back of his head.

"That's right! And that's why I absolutely hate dirty things!" She replied. "So I don't want the slightest bit of dust on my ship! Do you hear me?" She turned to face him. "I only let you live this long because you know more about navigation than the others."

"Y... Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much," Coby answered, on his knees as he trembled, looking up at her with a forced smile.

"BUT OTHER THAN THAT YOU'RE TOTALLY USELESS! NOW CLEAN MY SHOES!" She shouted, thrusting her foot out and kicking him.

He flinched back immediately, pulling out a cloth. "Y... YES, RIGHT AWAY, MA'AM!" He cried out, sniffling a bit as he set to work.

"Keep cleaning and don't leave any dust behind!" The extremely obese woman ordered to her crew, her bludgeon resting on her right shoulder.

"Y...! Yes, ma'am!" They chorused, setting to work immediately.

Alvida suddenly kicked Coby in the face. "That's enough for now! You piece of garbage!"

"Eh... eh hehehe... I... I'm so sorry," he apologized.

"If you have time to apologize, why don't you go clean the washroom!" She snapped, holding her bludgeon out towards him.

"Eh heh heh... I'll be on my way, Alvida-sama," the boy forced another smile, rubbing the back of his head again, blood trickling from his nose and mouth, and the left lens of his glasses was now cracked, as well. He walked away, and, once out of sight and hearing, stopped. Several tears were trickling down his face. "... On my way..." He croaked.

* * *

Just a while after this happened, and Coby had finished cleaning, Coby was walking along the shore when he saw a large dinghy had beached on the shore. He was appalled and rushed over, determined to save whoever was aboard from sharing the same fate as him. When he was close enough, he saw a young man calmly napping inside and wondered how he could be so carefree in the middle of the Great Age of Pirates. He was reaching over to shake the man to wake him up when he was tackled by a rather large, gold-coloured shape that burst forth from the small cabin on the dinghy. After his head stopped spinning and he caught a glimpse of his assailant, he screamed. Loudly.

" _Huh?_ " A drowsy voice mumbled. He rose his hat to look around. "Oh, we landed... OI, LAVI! Don't kill him!"

The snarling lion looked back angrily at the man, still growling loudly.

The man rose, rustling a hand through his black hair as he did so. "The Hell? I take a nap still sailing towards here and when I wake up you're trying to eat someone. This is why we can't have nice things, Lavi, this is why we can't have nice things."

The lion snorted at him, as if to challenge his statement.

"Oh, you know it's true. You even tried to eat Ace once when you were a kitten. Do you remember that?"

The lion paused for a moment, actually looking embarrassed, and slowly released the pink-haired boy before he shifted into a small, normal-sized cat and jumped back on the boat, turning his back to the drowsy 17-year-old.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," he chuckled at his feline companion, who ignored him. "Anyway, who the Hell are you and why was Lavi trying to eat you?"

The poor pink-haired boy seemed too in shock to answer; he was pale, his eyes were wide and his jaw was agape, both tears and snot running down his face in streams.

The napper had just decided that the boy had mentally passed out when a tremor passed through his body and Coby seemed to come back into reality.

"Dude, you okay?"

"AHHHHHH! LION!" Coby screamed, pointing at the... human... man... who promptly sweatdropped.

"No, that's Lavi. I'm a cloud-man, not a lion-man," he asserted.

"H... huh?" Coby stuttered. "Who are you anyway? AH! You should run! This area is under Alvida-sama's control!"

"I'm Luffy. Monkey D Luffy. It's nice to meet you." He gave a slight bow along with his introduction.

"Ah... Eh... I... I'm Coby! It's nice to meet you!" Coby bowed back, startled by the sudden politeness of the stranger.

"Who's Alvida anyway? OH! Right, isn't she a pirate?" Luffy tilted his head to the side in thought. "I think I remember her name."

"She is! She's a very terrifying pirate! You should get away!" Coby urged.

"And why are you here then?" Luffy rose an eyebrow.

"I... well, that's... I'm a caretaker on her ship," Coby sighed.

"You're not a very nice crewmate, then, to be talking about your captain like that. I'm assuming there's a bigger story here," Luffy replied.

"There is..." Coby replied, trembling in fear from merely the thought of Alvida. "That day... I was only fishing, but I accidentally walked onto their ship! And I had to become a caretaker on the ship for two years to stay alive...!"

"I said I'm assuming there's a bigger story here, not to tell it to me," Luffy deadpanned. "Furthermore, you _do_ realize you could have just beaten her up, ran away, or even gotten help from marines, right? _Right_?"

"Nonononono, I can't do that! It's impossible! Even the thought of Alvida-sama finding out scares me to death! It's completely impossible, impossible, impossible!"

"Then why aren't you dead?" Luffy continued deadpanning. Coby stared blankly at him, eyes still wide.

"... Huh...?"

"You said it scares you to death. If that were true, you'd be dead. You're just a coward. I hate cowards."

' _So blunt!_ ' Coby cried, turning his face away while laughing uncomfortably. "But... You're right... if only I were brave enough... Luffy-san, why are you sailing?"

"Me? I'm going to become the freest man upon the seas, the Pirate King!" He declared, a hand on his hat as he put forth a confident smile.

Coby's eyes and mouth popped open and he began sweating. "Eh...! Wha?! WHAT?! 'Pirate King' was the title of the man who had acquired everything in the world!" He exclaimed, spreading his arms open. "Are you telling me that you're looking for the 'World's Greatest Treasure'... Uhm, the 'One Piece'?! YOU WANNA DIE OR SOMETHING?! All the pirates in the world are looking for that treasure!"

"I'm not a coward like you, Coby," was Luffy's curt response. "I promised someone a long time ago that I would become the Pirate King. I decided when I was just a kid that I wanted to become the freest man in the world, that I wanted to get friends and become a pirate with them, that I would follow my own code of justice and make them and I free. That is my dream, and it's something I'm willing to put my life on the line for. If I died trying to do it, I'd die with a smile and no regrets."

Coby stared at the mysterious man in front of him. ' _Such amazing resolution...!_ ' "... Y... You'd die with a smile...?"

"I would," Luffy confirmed, staring unwaveringly into his eyes. Inside the dinghy, the cats were silently listening.

' _... I've never thought of that...!_ ' Coby thought, tears springing to his eyes and he held a clenched fist close to his chest. "... Will I also be able to accomplish my dream? If I'm willing to die."

"It's not about being willing to die, you idiot!" Luffy snapped. "It's about having the courage to stare death in the face and say, 'Fuck you!'"

Coby stared with wide eyes at him. "If... If I had the courage to do that... could do it? Will I be able... to become a marine?! Do you think I could do it?!"

Luffy stared at him for a long moment. "I don't know you well enough to answer that question."

"I have to at least try!" He exclaimed. "I'd rather die trying to get out of here and join the marines than stay here and be a caretaker my entire life! And then Alvida-sama... I'd be able to arrest someone like Alvida-sama!"

"WATCH OUT!" Luffy suddenly shouted, tackling him as a large bludgeon crashed to the ground where Coby had just been standing and a woman shouted, "WHO ARE YOU GOING TO ARREST, COBY?!"

"UWAHH!" Coby screamed.

"Did you think you can escape from me?!" She grinned, obviously angry. "What, did you hire him to capture me?" She glanced at Luffy. "Either way, before you die, I'm gonna ask you... What's the most beautiful thing in the sea, Coby?!"

"I know I'm not Coby, but I think I can answer this one," Luffy grinned. "The most beautiful _thing_ in the sea is the sea. If you meant who the most beautiful _person_ in the sea is, that's rumoured to be Boa Hancock, though I haven't met her so I can't say."

"..."

It was so silent, you could hear Lavi snickering. Apparently, cats can snicker.

"That kid... he dares to..." One crew member choked out as Alvida steamed with anger.

Coby grabbed Luffy by his shoulders and shook him. "Luffy-san! Quick, repeat after me! In all the seas, this lady is the most..." Coby froze for a moment. "The..." He suddenly remembered what the teen had said to him just moments before:

' _That is my dream, and it's something I'm willing to put my life on the line for. If I died trying to do it, I'd die with a smile and no regrets._ '

Determination suddenly filled Coby, and he screamed his answer at the top of his lungs, "THE RUDEST DAMNED BITCH!" The moment he said it, he froze, staring at Alvida. "Ah!"

Luffy and the cats in the dinghy just a foot behind him burst out laughing. Let me tell you, a cat laughing sounds very... _very_... disturbing. Luckily no one heard them.

" ** _YOU LITTLE BRAT!_** " Alvida screamed, raising her bludgeon.

Coby saw his life passing before his eyes. ' _Don't regret it! I've already told myself to fight for my dreams!_ ' He thought, whilst screaming his head off.

"Neeheeheehee! That was epic, Coby! Now get behind me!" Luffy laughed, ushering the terrified boy behind him, to which he obliged, in shock.

"Both of you..." Alvida snarled, preparing her attack. "HAVE TO DIE!" She roared, bringing down her bludgeon.

" ** _Ancile!_** " Luffy called out, raising his arm in front of him as if he was holding a shield there - which he suddenly was. It was a white, oval-shaped shield which sharply turned and curved in at the centre.

The bludgeon harmlessly slammed into the shield.

"Eehee," Luffy smirked.

"HUH?! Where did that shield come from?!" Alvida gasped.

"NO WAAAAAY!" Her crew gaped.

" ** _Sharur_** ," Luffy stated, making a motion with his hand. A moment later, Alvida let out a sound of intense pain and got thrown back, a white mace dissipating into the air a moment later. She was out for the count.

"He... He did something just now, and Alvida-sama was beaten! By that monster!" A member of her crew cried out in terror.

Luffy jabbed a finger at them. "By right of conquest, Coby's coming with me, and you have to give me ALL your treasure!"

The crew and Coby stared at him in shock. "Y... Yes, sir!" They scrambled to give him what he wanted.

"L... Luffy-san!" Coby was tearing up.

Luffy turned to give him a huge grin. "Don't worry, Coby. I'll make sure you can become a marine, since that's what you want."

"Thank you so much!"

"Don't sweat it."

* * *

"So you actually ate the Kumo Kumo no Mi... The cloud cloud fruit. That's surprising!" Coby exclaimed a while later, when they were well on their way to the next island. "But... Luffy-san, if you're actually looking for the 'One Piece'... um... that means you're going into the 'Grand Line', right?!"

"Uh-huh."

"But that place is known as the Pirate's Graveyard!"

"That's why I'm going to need a strong crew, and a skilled navigator on that crew," Luffy responded. "I know a lot about the Grand Line, Coby."

"You speak as if you've been there before," Coby replied, his eyebrows pushing together.

"Eh. Not personally. I've spoken to people who have gone, I guess."

"You guess?!"

"Oh, hush, you nitpicker!"

"Nitpicker?!"

"Aha!" Luffy snickered.

* * *

 ** _The little boat sailed toward the marines' base._**

* * *

"Eehee. It's right on the horizon, Coby. We should be there in just a little while, since we have a good wind blowing," Luffy grinned, writing in his journal while he spoke.

' _I forgot about Coby but I remembered him when I met him. Oops. Oh, well. We're almost at the island now, and then I'll be able to meet Zoro and decide if I want him on my crew. I can't decide from the manga. That's biased._ '

"Yes! Once we get there, I'll finally be able to become a marine!" Coby exclaimed joyously.

"Yep. After we eat. It's been awhile since someone's cooked for me," Luffy chuckled. "Let's see... Schedule, schedule. First! Eat. Second! See if that Zoro guy's a good person. Third! Decide if he'll join my crew. Fourth! Leave," Luffy hummed, tapping his pen on his chin as he stared at his journal.

"... WHAT?!" Coby shrieked, his eyes bulging out. "You're dreaming! You can't! He's like a monster!"

"We can't be sure of that, yet."

"It'll never work!"

"And why do you say that? Have you met him?"

"No, but he's a monster!"

"If you haven't met him, you have no right to say that. We don't know yet if he's a good or bad guy."

"He's locked up _because_ he's bad!" The pink-haired boy exclaimed.

"I'm a pirate. When I get more famous - er, infamous - then I'll have a bounty on my head. If I get captured, I'll get locked up. Am I bad?" Luffy retorted, raising an eyebrow at his current companion.

Coby froze. "Well, no... But you're Luffy-san!"

"That makes no sense. Listen, Coby, the world isn't in black and white. I'm a pirate but I'm a good person. That's what you're saying. That's the white in the darkness, eh? For all you know, Zoro was just helping someone the marines were mistreating and he was arrested as a result of doing the right thing and going against them."

Coby was staring at him in shock as he said this. "No way! Marines would never do that!"

"That's naive, Coby. Some would say that a man intending on being the Pirate King would never help a boy being held captive by pirates as their caretaker and navigator, whose dream is to be a marine, but look at us now. There's obviously black in the light, too."

"But-!"

Luffy cut Coby off with a risen hand. "You want to be a marine, right? A great marine?" Coby nodded at this. "Then you need to realize that, at some point, you _will_ see corruption in the system. Remember this, Coby: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. There are virtually no exceptions to this rule. If you are going to be a good marine, you'll right the wrongs of the marines when you see them, too."

Coby merely stared at Luffy in shock.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Luffy repeated quietly, placing his journal in the small box with the maps. "I learned that the hard way, and I hope you don't have to."

Coby was silent for several minutes, just thinking. "... I understand," he finally said, biting his lips and tears forming in his eyes.

"Great. Wake me up when we get there."

With that, he kicked his feet up, tilted his hat over his face, slipped his arms behind his head, and went to sleep.

"Ah... Luffy-san, we were talking for a while... The island is just 50 yards away..." Coby sweat-dropped.

* * *

 ** _I... am not sure if I like this chapter. But you guys got to see some of Luffy's abilities! Just a hint of them!_**

 ** _We got a heartfelt serious chat with Coby, too (My cat's name is Koby. xD Wait, you guys don't care about that, do you...). Since Luffy doesn't want Coby to witness corruption and get disheartened, he got a warning that some people were like that and that he needed to stand up against those people, for the sake of his dream, and Coby understood. Yay, Coby! I was gonna have Luffy tell Coby a personal story, but after writing it out, I decided I didn't like it._**

 ** _Do you guys like Luffy's cats? I was thinking for a very long time about them and decided to put them in. You guys will learn more about them if you keep reading this story, and, if you read long enough, you'll learn why they are there. It'll all come together. I promise I thought it through well. After I wrote this chapter, I was thinking of changing my mind to take them out, but I decided to leave them in because they fit with everything I have decided. If it ends up not working out, I'll have to rewrite this. Ergh._**

 ** _Till next time!_**

 ** _~ Tsukino Aisuru - A_**


	6. Chapter 4

Luffy yawned and stretched as he exited the boat after tying up the sail, then tied the boat to the small dock. "That was _soo_ boring, Coby. You should have waited to wake me up."

"Eheheheh... I'm sorry, Luffy-san," Coby sweat-dropped.

"Oioioioi, you guys, watch the ship while I'm gone, eh?" Luffy instructed the four cats calmly laying in the sun, who gave no answer except the twitch of a tail, which Luffy took as a sign of acknowledgement. and walked away, Coby in tow. "Anyway. Hey, you!" Luffy (rudely, one might add) called over to a random person, who turned to (justifiably) glare at him. "Know anywhere I can get somethin' to eat?"

"Yeah. Ririka's tavern, Food Foo, right down the road," he grumbled, pointing.

"Thanks!" The cloud man grinned, waving as he happily strolled down the road, pretending not to notice the depressed mumbles from more than one person that followed him.

"Didja have to point him there?!"

"He can buy food from me, too, ya know!"

"He obviously wanted a restaurant, not a food stall..."

"But still...!"

"Shut up! Especially after what happened to poor Rika-chan, can you really deny Ririka business...?"

"... I feel so sorry for that family."

Coby glanced back uncomfortably. "I wonder what happened..."

Luffy remained silent as they walked down the road.

When they reached just a block away, they heard another commotion happening. Two men were arguing, coming very close to exchanging blows.

"Give me back my money! I earned that!"

"Hell no! I need this more than you!"

"I have a wife and two children, like hell you do!"

Luffy continued to remain silent and walked into the tavern with a large sign on the front which read ' _Food Foo_ ', Coby unhappily trailing behind him.

The restaurant was mostly empty, only a few customers inside who glanced at them when they walked in before turning back to their meals. One cloaked person who was sitting at the bar's counter glanced at him a little bit longer than the others before they, too, turned back to their meal.

"Ah..." A woman mumbled, turning to her new customers. "Hello, welcome to Food Foo. What can I get for you today?"

Luffy sat with Coby at the bar's counter, just two seats away from the cloaked figure. Neither noticed the tensing nor smiling of the said figure. "Just a glass of water for now, miss."

Coby blinked at Luffy. "Didn't you wanna get something to eat?"

"I'd actually like to talk to you, miss," Luffy ignored Coby in favour of speaking to the visibly upset woman. "While I was walking here, I noticed everyone seems to be afraid of something and upset. What's wrong here?"

Ririka, as her name was, placed a glass of cold water in front of Luffy, who calmly took a drink from it without looking away from the young woman. "... Well, that is..." She mumbled uncomfortably. "Three years ago, Captain Morgan took over the Marine's 153rd Branch. Ever since then, he forces us to give him a tribute of money every month, and if it's too low, he claims we don't respect him and punishes us," Ririka glanced around nervously, as if he was going to jump out at her at any second. "Yesterday, my daughter... She went to go feed Roronoa Zoro, even though I told her so many times not to go there...! They came and arrested her, and Morgan intends on publicly executing both her and the pirate hunter today!" She sobbed, covering her face with her hands. "I keep thinking of what to do to save her, but I can't think of anything! Oh, Rika!"

"Why would the Marines do that?!" Coby cried out. "And why would a little girl go to feed that monster, anyway?"

"He's not a monster!" Ririka retorted, still sobbing. "He saved her life before! Captain Morgan's son was parading around with his wolf pet, and out of nowhere, it attacked her when she was walking from buying some bread! Roronoa Zoro killed the wolf with his swords and saved her, and ended up getting arrested because of it! And as for why the Marines would do that, they're being ruled by that _monster_ and everyone is too afraid to do anything about it! And now my daughter - she's going to die because I can't do anything to save her!" She fell to the ground, still sobbing.

Coby sat there, his jaw agape in shock. "But... she's just a little girl...!" The pink-haired boy sat there, his mind whirling, before he turned to his companion. "What do we do, Luffy-san?! We can't just let a little girl die like that!"

"Yes, focus on the little girl and _completely_ disregard Zoro," Luffy rolled his eyes.

Coby flapped his mouth open and closed wordlessly for a moment. "Both of them! We can't let innocent people just die like that!" He recovered. "Luffy-san, you're very strong! Please save them!" Coby pleaded.

Luffy chuckled. "A man who wants to be a marine is pleading for a pirate's help. Well, I guess there's a first for everything, huh?"

Coby's eyes were wide. "Luffy-san?"

Everyone's eyes were on the two sitting at the bar. Luffy's hat shadowed his eyes as he calmly finished off his water in one gulp as Ririka stood and stared hard at him, tears still brimming her eyes.

"Are... are you truly that strong, mister?" She whispered, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"He is!" Coby vouched for him, standing up. "Luffy-san saved my life before! I've seen him in action! If... if the marines here are truly as you say they are... then they must be stopped! I'm sure Luffy-san can save your daughter!"

"Then... then... please, save my daughter!" Ririka begged, bowing. "I'll do anything in return if you do...!"

 _Wham!_

His now empty glass slammed down on the counter as he stood up, fire burning in his eyes. "Don't you dare."

Ririka froze and looked up at him, now afraid.

"L... Luffy-san?" Coby squeaked.

"Don't bow to me. Don't _ever_ bow to me. And don't beg me for something like that, either. _Ever_ ," he continued, glaring at her before his eyes were shadowed by his hat again. "People who use their status to hurt others... are at the top of the list of people I hate most. 'Captain' Morgan's fate was sealed before you finished your second sentence."

With that, Luffy turned and strode out of the bar, a hand instinctively on his katana and the occupants staring with wide eyes after him. After a brief pause, Coby ran to catch up.

' _Well, I change my mind. It's too early to reveal myself._ ' The hooded figure decided. ' _But... I am SO happy I came here. That was flippin' awesome! It was even more epic in real life!_ '

* * *

"So this is the marine's base..." Coby said, staring up at it. "I wonder where they're being hel- Luffy-san, what are you doing?!"

The pirate had easily jumped up to the top of the short wall to see inside, and was about to jump in when his companion called out to him. "Trespassing on Marine property. What does it _look_ like I'm doing?" He rolled his eyes.

"You can't just walk in just like that!" Coby exclaimed.

"Yes, I can. I mean, the little girl and Zoro are literally right on the other side of this field thingy."

"WHAT?! There's no way they'd be held out in plain sight like that!"

"What, so they're just my imagination?" Luffy rolled his eyes and jumped down, Coby scrambling to catch up.

"Wha-! They really are out here!" Coby gaped.

"Just 'cause I'm a pirate doesn't mean I'm a liar," Luffy grumbled, already making his way to the man and little girl tied up to crosses.

The young man already had both of their attention.

"Who- who are you?" The little girl's eyes were wide. The man remained silent, staring at the two with a critical eye.

"My name is Coby, and this is Luffy! We're here to save you!" Coby exclaimed, rushing forward to the girl as Luffy stopped in front of Zoro, his gaze moving to the sign beside them.

"'Anyone who helps a prisoner will be charged with the same crime. Marine Lieutenant Morgan." Luffy read aloud. "Well, that's pretty extreme. Then again, so is deciding to publicly execute a little girl for trying to feed a starving criminal."

Coby turned to look at the sign, frowning. "How horrible..."

"Anyway, greeny."

"GREENY?!"

"Yep, greeny," Luffy grinned. "My name is Monkey D Luffy. I'm the man who will one day become the pirate king. I've heard a lot about you, Roronoa Zoro. Apparently, you're quite the swordsman."

Zoro stared in surprise at the man standing before him. "The pirate king?!"

"Yes! I was surprised, too, but he's serious about it!" Coby smiled.

"... I am a swordsman. What of it?" the green-haired man replied, staring directly into Luffy's eyes.

The pirate smirked. "How do you intend to use any swords when you're tied to a cross and about to be executed by marines?"

If looks could kill, Luffy would have dropped dead. Again. "That bastard son had promised he'd let me go after a month...!"

"And you made the mistake of believing him," Luffy affirmed.

Zoro bared his teeth and growled.

"I'm willing to make you a deal," Luffy stated, staring straight back into Zoro's eyes.

"I'm listening."

"You join my pirate crew, I won't let the marines kill you, and I'll grant you your freedom back."

"..." The two stared into each other's eyes for several moments as Zoro contemplated this. "... Alright, I'll join your pirate crew, but... I still have my own goals!" Zoro replied, tensed. "I will become the world's greatest swordsman! I no longer care if my name is clean or not. Bad guy, good guy, it no longer matters as long as my name is known worldwide! If you do something that ends up in the way of my goal, I will have you cut your stomach open to say sorry!"

Slowly, the cloud-man folded his arms across his chest while his eyes were shadowed and he smirked. "You have yourself a deal, Roronoa Zoro. After all, as I said, I'm going to be the Pirate King. If you aimed to be anything other than the best, I'd be quite embarrassed."

Zoro smirked. "Well said... captain."

"Who took your katana?"

"That bastard son took it... It's something that I value the most, other than my life...!"

"Alright. Coby," Luffy turned to the boy, who was staring in awe. "Free Zoro and the little girl while I go get his swords. After that, you can wait here, if you want. I'll be back soon."

Coby's back straightened. "Ah-uh- right!"

"Thank you so much!" Rika cried.

In a flash, Luffy turned and ran towards the marine's base.

* * *

"Ahahaha! In just an hour, that stupid Roronoa Zoro will be publicly executed!" A rather idiotic-looking blonde man laughed as he walked through the hall of the marine base, two marines unhappily trailing behind him. His joy was cut short when he turned the corner and walked straight into someone and landed on his bum.

Helmeppo opened up his mouth to yell, but, instead, he and the two marines gulped, taking in the appearance of the unfamiliar man staring at them with an expression that clearly stated that he was not impressed. Slowly, Helmeppo eyes travelled to the sword and pistol tucked into his red sash before going back up to his eyes. He gulped before pulling courage (read 'stupidity') from who knows where, standing back up and shouting, "How dare you run into me like that?! Do you know who I am?! I am the great Helmeppo, Marine Lieutenant Morgan's son- EGYAAAAHHHH!"

 _Whumph!_

"Great, you're the bastard son. So, tell me, where are Roronoa Zoro's katana?" Luffy deadpanned, holding Helmeppo against the wall with his arm dangerously close to the blonde's neck. The coward looked about ready to faint.

"D-DON'T JUST STAND THERE, YOU IDIOTS, SAVE ME!" Helmeppo shrieked, his eyes bulging. _"I'LL TELL MY DADDY!"_

"Y-yes, sir!" The marines shouted, eyes wide as they aimed at the intruder.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Luffy smirked at them. "The bullets won't hit me; they'll hit _him_. That is, of course, unless he leads me to Roronoa's katana."

The two marines looked at each other for a moment before seemingly deciding something, nodding at each other, and running away.

"HEY, WHERE ARE YOU TWO GO- THEY'RE IN MY ROOM! MY ROOM!" Helmeppo began screaming after the two marines only to quickly change his tune after seeing a rather sadistic smirk on his captor's lips.

"Where's your room?" Luffy continued smirking.

"Down the hall, the third door to the right!"

* * *

"So... you're telling me _this_ is your room?" Luffy sweatdropped.

"Yes!" Helmeppo whimpered, still terrified.

"I am _so_ robbing you."

Helmeppo fainted in terror, foaming at the mouth.

* * *

Luffy slung a bag of (stolen) treasure over his shoulder along with Zoro's three katana and peeked out the window, frowning when he saw what was transpiring outside.

He saw a now untied Zoro (who looked about ready to charge at the people he was facing) standing in front of Rika and an unconscious Coby with a large number of marines pointing their guns at him. They were getting ready to shoot!

" _ **FIRE!**_ " Morgan shouted at his subordinates, who clenched their eyes shut and squeezed their triggers.

 _Bang!_

 _Crash!_

 ** _"Fristad!"_**

A mass of clouds rushed towards the trio and covered them in a pure white dome mere milliseconds before the bullets would have reached them. Instead, the bullets harmlessly ricocheted off of the barrier.

"WHAT?!" Morgan was not amused.

 _"Fristad,"_ Luffy repeated, landing deftly on his feet in front of the cloud barrier.

"What _is_ he?!" One marine gasped.

"He must be a _monster!_ " Another one exclaimed. Morgan began telling them about devil fruits, which they all thought were just a myth.

The young pirate placed his hand against the barrier and absorbed the clouds back into his body. "Yo, Roronoa Zoro. I got these swords for ya," he grinned, pulling the three swords off his back and holding them out to Zoro, who smirked and took them. "Do you use all of them, then?"

"I do," Zoro replied, putting them on the right side of his haramaki. "I use three-sword-style."

"Ooh-hoooh. That sounds awesome," Luffy grinned.

"And what about you? Are you any good with that katana?" Zoro asked, side-eyeing his new captain's sword.

"I consider myself an amateur," he shrugged.

Zoro grinned. "That's too bad."

"That grin is very predatory. I like it."

" _IF GUNS WON'T WORK, WE'LL USE OUR SWORDS TO KILL HIM!_ " the marines shouted, interrupting them and charging.

"Uhh, what happened? Did I pass out?" Coby chose then to wake up. "WAHH! LUFFY-SAN, ZORO-SAN, LOOK OUT!"

"Leave this to me," Zoro smirked, placing Wado Ichimonji in his mouth and placing his lower quality swords in his hands. In a flash, the marines were upon them and Zoro blocked their attacks with his three swords. "All of you better not move," he threatened, "one move and I'll kill you!"

Luffy grinned at his new swordsman. ' _So awesome!_ '

"Waa!" The marines whimpered, tears in their eyes. ' _So scary...!_ '

"What are you guys standing there for?! Hurry up and finish those two off!" Morgan shouted.

"Yessir!" They shouted, moving to attack again.

Zoro deflected their swords with ease and pushed them back, where they roughly fell. Several of their swords slipped from their grasps in the process, clanging against the ground. "Heh. You guys are gonna need to try harder than that if you want to beat me!"

The marines were utterly petrified by his small show of strength.

"They're monsters...!

"Lieutenant! There's no way we can kill these two!"

"A... Anyway, we can't defeat Zoro!"

Morgan's eyes became shadowed as he listened to his subordinates' fear. "This is an order... All of you who just said that... get a gun and kill yourselves, now! I don't need weak subordinates! That's an order!" The marines who had spoken stared at him in surprise and horror for a moment before holding their rifles up to their heads, their eyes shadowed as they trembled.

" _What the hell are those marines doing?!_ " Zoro growled, preparing to charge before Luffy put a hand on his shoulder and took a step in front of him.

"Are you shitty marines _seriously_ going to keep obeying this corrupt asshole's every order?" He demanded. "Is this why you became marines? To be cowards living under his command?"

They slightly lowered their guns in shock. "No... it's not!" One exclaimed, although looking as though he had no hope.

"I became a marine... to help people, and to put criminals to justice!" Another cried out.

"Then... WHY THE HELL ARE YOU PUTTING THESE PEOPLE THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN AND SUFFERING WHILE YOU _WORK FOR A GODDAMNED CRIMINAL, YOU ASSHOLES_?!" Luffy rose his head to look at them and screamed, several veins on his forehead pulsing. "AND NOW YOU WANNA KILL YOURSELVES JUST 'CAUSE _HE SAID SO_?!"

Several guns clattered to the ground as his words echoed around the courtyard, everyone staring at him in either shock, shame, guilt, or, in Morgan's case, rage.

"Luffy-san..." Coby whispered, his eyes tearing up as he looked at his friend.

' _This guy..._ ' Zoro thought, eyeing Luffy.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OF ME LIKE THAT, YOU NOBODY?! NOTHING MATTERS MORE THAN STATUS AND I AM THE GREAT ONE HERE! PEOPLE LIKE YOU, WITH NO STATUS, HAVE NO RIGHT TO OPPOSE ME! I'LL KILL YOU FOR YOUR DISRESPECT!" Morgan roared, lifting his axe-hand in the air threateningly.

"..." Luffy silently turned his gaze to the Marine Lieutenant and placed his fist on his palm, cracking his knuckles. ' _Oh, how I wish people would actually get this reference... but instead, people are just gonna think I'm weird for saying this. Whatever._ ' "In that case... come at me, bro."

Nearly everyone sweatdropped. " _'Come at me, bro,'_?"

"I AM GREAT!" Morgan roared, having _had_ it with this _impudent, rude CHILD_ making fun of _him_ , the great Marine Lieutenant Axe-hand Morgan. How dare he?!

Luffy snorted. "Yeah, great at epically failing," he retorted, rushing forward and solidly punching Morgan in the gut, sending him flying back several feet. "A good ol' fashioned punch is better than any wacko fighting move. Well, more badass-looking, at least."

Zoro sweatdropped. ' _Is that what he cares about the most?_ '

"I... AM... _GREAT!_ " Morgan shouting, standing up and raising his axe-hand at Luffy.

"DON'T MOVE, STRAW-HAT!" A voice shouted, followed by a surprised squeak. Luffy turned to stare blankly at the new development: Coby was now being held at gunpoint by Morgan's bastard son. "You just stay right there and don't move or this kid's gonna get it!"

Coby stared with wide eyes at Luffy for a moment before swallowing and saying, with conviction, "Luffy, don't let me get in your way...! I'm not afraid of death!

"Uhm... well, that's all good and all, but anyway... pray tell, what is me not moving going to do?" Luffy questioned. Morgan paused, still glaring but now raising an eyebrow at the 'nobody' who had pissed him off. "I ate the cloud-cloud fruit and became a cloud-man. Stuff like this axe guy won't affect me."

"Huh?! Even if you can create clouds, that won't save you from daddy's axe!" Helmeppo retorted, trembling.

"... Apparently, you don't know what 'cloud-man' means, dumb-ass, or even the basics of Devil Fruits," Luffy rolled his eyes. "There are three basic types of Devil Fruits. Paramecia, the most common kind, Zoan, the second most common kind, and Logia, the rarest kind. I'm a logia. I don't just create clouds - I _am_ clouds. An axe won't hurt me."

"Devil Fruit or not... are you _seriously_ implying... that someone with no status, like you... can't be beaten... by someone as GREAT as ME?!" Morgan roared, bringing his axe down on Luffy.

"WATCH OUT!" Coby and Zoro shouted.

 _ **WHAM!**_

The axe hit the ground and got stuck in, Luffy seemingly cut in half but for some wispy clouds in between him (that, somehow, no one noticed).

"LUFFY!"

"This... is what happens when someone like this no-name trash picks a fight with the great Marine Lieutenant Morgan!"

" _Right. You mean absolutely nothing at all happens. How 'Great'!_ " Luffy replied, deadpanning.

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted in shock as the man who had been cut in two spoke and began reconnecting.

"Just who _is_ this guy I'm now following?" Zoro whispered, eyes wide.

"Alright, blondie. I'll give you your options: Drop your gun and get away from Coby, or die," Luffy smiled happily at Helmeppo, clouds drifting upwards from his arms and pooling into a single cloud above his and Morgan's head, the said Marine Lieutenant giving it no notice as he didn't believe anything would happen because of the clouds (what was the pirate going to do? Make it _rain_ on him?) and instead wondering how he was going to brutally murder the Logia user. Oh, he didn't care about Luffy's threat to his son; after all, he didn't even _care_ about Helmeppo.

The gun clattered to the ground as Helmeppo staggered back, falling on his ass in the process. " _S... scary...!_ " He whimpered.

"Now then..." Luffy turned his attention to Morgan and daintily raising his right hand. " _ **Mini Lei Kaitz**_."

" _Huh?_ " Morgan snorted, preparing to once again attempt to murder the young pirate.

" _ **Mini Lei Kaitz**_ ," Luffy repeated, turning his back to Morgan and beginning to walk away (much to Morgan's offence). "Are you deaf?"

A moment later, a bright light flashed, illuminating the courtyard and completely enveloping Lieutenant Morgan. It faded, revealing a very charred man. As he fell to the ground, a deep _boom_ of thunder resounded, vibrating the very ground they stood on.

The marines, Coby, Helmeppo and Zoro looked on with bulging eyes and dropped jaws.

"Oi, Zoro, if you really intend to join my crew, I suggest getting used to this kind of thing," Luffy grinned at his swordsman's expression. "It's gonna be even crazier where we're going!"

" _IT'S GONNA BE THAT CRAZY?!_ " Zoro shouted in shock, sweat-dropping.

"That was so cool, Big Brother Luffy!" The previously forgotten Rika squealed, running up to him. Luffy blinked several times at her. ' _Big Brother Luffy...?_ '

He promptly grinned at her. "You thought _that_ was cool? You ain't seen nothing yet!"

"The lieutenant... lost!" A marine gaped.

"Lieutenant Morgan... has been defeated!" Another exclaimed.

Zoro put a hand on his sword, ready to unsheathe it. "If you still wanna arrest us... come and get it."

The marines all exchanged wide-eyed looks for a moment before cheering and throwing their hats in the air.

"YES!"

"WE'RE FREE!"

"WE'RE OUT OF MORGAN'S CONTROL!"

"LONG LIVE MARINES!"

"Everyone... really did hate Morgan!" Coby was relieved.

Zoro promptly collapsed.

"Zoro?" Luffy ruffled his eyebrows at the collapsed swordsman.

"Zoro!" Coby cried out in shock.

"Big Bro Zoro!" Rika wailed, rushing over and kneeling down beside him.

* * *

"I'm full!" Zoro declared, leaning back with a huge grin and patting his stomach. "I haven't eaten for ten days; almost starved to death!"

"Sounds like it!" Luffy chuckled, taking another bite out of his tofu burger.

"How many tofu burgers are you going to _eat_?" Zoro demanded, staring hard at the cloud man. "It's not like _you_ were starving, too, right?"

"Nope, but these are really good!" Luffy chuckled again. "Plus I was gonna eat when I first got here but, well, that didn't exactly happen."

"I'm sorry; I ate quite a bit myself," Coby said to Ririka, rubbing his head and grinning sheepishly.

"Don't worry! Keep eating; you saved our town and my daughter!" She beamed back.

"Big brother, you're so strong!" Rika exclaimed, looking upwards at Luffy.

"So are you," Luffy grinned down at her. "Not just anyone could do what you did, especially at your age."

She blushed. "You really think so?"

"I know so!"

"That reminds me," Zoro said suddenly, "what are our plans next?"

Luffy blinked once and turned to address his crewmate. "Well. First of all, we need more crewmates and a ship. We're gonna make our way through East Blue for just a little while and get two or three more people, a Navigator, a Doctor and a Cook being the priority, we'll get a ship, too, then we're headed for the Grand Line."

"And how are we gonna do that?" Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I have money, if the ship was your question of how, and if the people was it, then the same way I got _you_."

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!" Coby exclaimed. "WHAT?! The Grand Line?! You're saying crazy things again-!"

 _ **BONK!**_

Coby slumped back, having gained a new, steaming lump on his head. "Ow..."

"Now, Coby," Luffy scolded, "you're being annoying again."

Everyone sweatdropped at the duo.

"I... I'm sorry, Luffy-san..."

"We're headed for One Piece," Zoro grinned at Coby, having quickly gotten over his minor bewilderment at his captain. "It won't hurt to head in that direction."

"B... But, that's where all the strongest Pirates gather! The Grand Line is very dangerous, and with so little people-!" Coby was at it again and got interrupted again.

"What are you getting so worried for? It's not like you're coming with us, right?" the green-haired swordsman glanced for affirmation from his captain at the end, which he received in the form of a firm nod.

Coby lowered his head and spread his hands out on the table, having sit up again. "Even though I'm not going... I will still worry! ... Can't I?!" He demanded. "Can't I worry about you guys?!"

"Uh..." Zoro sweatdropped.

"Ja, feel free to worry," Luffy nodded. "Since we're friends. But stop trying to dissuade me. I'm very well aware of the dangers of the Grand Line. I've spoken to people who have been there and heard plenty of stories of it. I've read in detail about it, as well."

Zoro smirked. "Sounds like the Captain knows exactly what we're going into, huh?"

"Damn right!" Luffy laughed.

"Luffy-san..." Coby had felt truly touched the moment Luffy had called him his friend. He looked down, balling his hands into fists. "I've never had friends, growing up... Every time, I would be picked on... No one would ever stand up for me... But the two of you... taught me to live by my dream!"

"Our dreams are why we're headed for the Grand Line," Luffy deadpanned.

"Yeah." Zoro nodded.

"Hmm... that's true," Coby sweatdropped, rubbing the back of his head (once more).

Luffy finished eating his tofu burger and guzzled down his water. "Alright, I'm done. Zoro, if you're done too, we're going after we grab a few things from the market to resupply, and then leave." He stood, picking up his sword.

"Oh, so soon?" Ririka asked.

"Yeah - even though we saved this town, we're still pirates. We can't stay in one place too long - the sea calls for me, and adventure awaits!" Luffy beamed, placing his sword back in his belt and slinging his small treasure sack over his shoulder.

"Excuse me!" The door opened just as Luffy was turning towards it and Zoro was standing. The occupants of the room turned to the door.

A marine stood in the doorway with his eyes shadowed and his arms behind his back. "We are wondering, are you really... pirates?"

"Zoro and I are pirates, yes," Luffy affirmed. "We were actually just leaving after we buy some supplies, if you'd prefer to do this peacefully."

The marine was silent for a moment before raising his hand to adjust his hat slightly lower. "Even though you are pirates, in reality... you saved our town and base. For that we are grateful. But, since you are pirates, we as marines cannot allow you to stay any longer," the marine stated, his hands now crossed behind his back again. "Please finish your business and leave this place immediately. As for the events that have transpired here, we are reporting them to headquarters."

The civilians who were listening in outside immediately shouted out in protest at their orders. These people may be pirates, but they saved the town! How could the Marines kick them out so fast?

"Well, then..." Luffy smirked, unsurprised. "Let's go, Zoro. Thank you very much for your food, ma'am." Zoro remained silent.

"Luffy-san..." Coby murmured.

"Are you really going, big brother?" Rika frowned. Luffy rubbed her head, tousling her hair a bit, but said nothing and the pirates walked passed her and Coby without a word.

"Aren't you with their group?" The marine asked Coby.

"Eh?! I...! I...!" Coby trembled.

" _Ja, feel free to worry," Luffy nodded. "Since we're friends."_

"I'm... not... not... I'M NOT WITH THEM!" Coby declared.

The marine side-eyed the expressionless Luffy, who had just reached the door. "...! Please hold on."

Luffy paused, turning his head slightly to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Is he telling the truth?"

Luffy blinked at the marine several times. " _Hell_ , no. That kid, from the moment I've met him, has done nothing but ramble on and on about how _great_ Marines are. _No_ , the kid is _not_ with me."

He was regarded carefully but the Marine nodded. "Alright, then. Since you did save our town, I'll make an allowance just this once."

Luffy nodded and once more turned his back to the tavern and made to leave. "Bye-bye, then," he shrugged, waving a hand over his shoulder as he left.

It really didn't take long to stop at a few stalls and grab some essentials before they left, especially when the civilians right outside Food Foo insisted on giving everything to them for free as thanks for saving them from Morgan's tyranny, and so they were at their boat (Zoro completely bewildered by the presence of the sleeping cats) and sailing away within a half hour.

When they were just a few feet from the harbour, Coby came running up to the edge of the docks. "Lu... Lu... Luffy-san!" He calls, panting. He had obviously been running the entire way there.

The occupants of the dinghy turned to look at him. Yes, even the cats.

Coby saluted them. "THANK YOU SO MUCH! I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!"

Zoro smirked. "I've never seen a Marine saluting pirates."

Luffy waved at his friend. "I have a feeling I'll meet you again someday, Coby - next time, you better not be a wimp anymore!"

"Group salute!" A man's voice shouted and the marines who had followed Coby all saluted the pirates as they sailed away.

"Eh?" Coby turned to look at them with wide eyes.

"You have great friends," the marine who had kicked Luffy and Zoro out of the bar stated, not taking his eyes off the boat.

"Yes, sir!" Coby held his fists tightly to his side, tears falling down his cheeks.

"We just saluted pirates and thus violated the Marine's code! The punishment will be no food for a week!" The marine declared.

"Ye, sir!" His men agreed, saluting him.

"And so we're off to Orange Town, next," Luffy declared.


	7. Chapter 5

"Seriously, how many tofu burgers are you gonna _eat_?" Zoro sweatdropped at his new captain.

"Dude, tofu burgers are one of my favorite snacks. Don't judge," the man replied between mouthfuls of the aforementioned sandwiches.

" _Snacks?_ You've literally eaten at least _fifteen full-sized burgers_. That's just a _snack_ for you?"

"... Okay, I may or may not have an unhealthy addiction to tofu burgers, but that's only 'cause we don't really have the resources for much other food besides salads and stuff right now. Like, we don't even have a kitchen yet," Luffy begrudgingly admitted, stopping to stare blankly at a half-eaten tofu burger before grabbing a barrel of water and chugging it. "So thirsty!"

"That's your SEVENTH barrel of water!" Zoro face faulted. "Are you gonna chug that entire barrel, too?!"

" _Ahhh..._ " Luffy sighed happily, setting the empty barrel next to the other empty barrels.

"SERIOUSLY, HOW CAN YOU DRINK THAT MUCH WATER?!"

"Very carefully," Luffy deadpanned, finishing his veggie burger and starting on a large bowl of salad. "We really need to get a ship with a kitchen soon. I want macaroni tacos and muffins. Mmh, cake... Have you ever tried pumpkin pancakes? They're soooo good! Ooh, I kinda wanna make a crêpe, or - OOH, maybe eclairs! Definitely making eclairs sometime soon."

"Could you focus on one thing at a time?!" Zoro shouted, his teeth as sharp as a shark's. "I asked you three hours ago what the hell was with the cats and you completely ignored me!"

"Hey, look, there's a pink bird! A PINK bird! Ahaha, that's so cute!" Luffy laughed, pointing upwards.

Zoro blinked and looked to where Luffy was pointing. Indeed, on the horizon, and, coincidentally, where they were heading, was a pink bird.

"Huh, there _is_ a pink bird. How is that cute?" Zoro said, then his eyebrow twitched. "THAT'S NOT THE POINT HERE!"

"That was a good salad, but it needed hard-boiled eggs, and more sunflower nuts," Luffy decided, putting his empty bowl in a crate.

"Again, stop focusing so much on food!"

"Hush, child."

"I'M OLDER THAN YOU!"

"Yeah, yeah, calm your tits," Luffy chuckled. "Anyway, considering the fact that we just saw a bird, we'll be seeing land soon, unless that bird is extremely stupid and unfortunate."

Both men looked over at the horizon the bird was disappearing into. Suddenly, Luffy squinted a bit. "I think I see a shipwreck. I wonder if there are any survivors."

"A shipwreck?" Zoro leaned over, holding a hand over his eyes as he squinted at the horizon. "Damn, you're right. Tiny ass boat, though. It's just a little dinghy. Who the hell was sailing around in a-" he broke off, glancing at his own predicament and captain (who was attempting not to laugh at his marimo), "-never mind."

After a few more minutes of peaceful sailing, the duo was approaching the miniature shipwreck and heard several men calling out to them to stop.

"Hey... stop the boat!"

"The boat over there, stop!"

"So there are survivors after all," Zoro mused.

"Poor, unfortunate souls," Luffy deadpanned. "Go ahead and get on," he instructed as their dinghy reached the three men, who obliged.

"Whew... thank God!" One gasped as they kneeled on the deck, catching their breath as Luffy casually ate an apple.

' _Seriously... does that guy ever stop eating?_ ' Zoro sweat-dropped.

The men quickly recovered from their being tired from swimming and drew their weapons. "This territory belongs to Buggy-sama!" One declared.

" _What_?" Zoro retorted, unimpressed.

Luffy calmly finished his apple and promptly tossed the bare pit at the head of the pirate who had spoken. "You're annoying and you woke up all my cats."

He snorted, veins pulsing on his forehead. "And why the hell would I care that I woke up all your cats?

A dark look appeared in Luffy's eyes as he slowly smiled. "I don't know. Maybe you should ask Lavi. He's right behind you."

The pirate froze as he heard a huff with a slight growl behind him, the warm breeze from the breath tussling his hair and clothing slightly. He didn't like the look Zoro was giving to whatever was behind him.

Slowly, the Buggy pirate turned around. Behind him towered a large lion, his golden fur shimmering in the sunlight and a _very_ annoyed look shimmering in his golden eyes.

He gulped.

"Go ahead. Ask him why you should care that you woke him up," Luffy urged. "I'm sure he'd be _more_ than happy to tell you."

"Th... THIS MEAN NOTHING! I'M A MEMBER OF THE GREAT BUGGY'S CREW!" The apparent idiot shouted...

... in Lavi the Lion's face.

Lavi decided to yell back at him, and the wood the dinghy was made of vibrated from the sheer volume of his roar.

The spokesman for the small team of pirates fainted in terror while the other two merely fell on their bums.

"We're sorry... we're so, so sorry...!" They whimpered, hugging eachother.

Zoro sweatdropped. ' _As if the lion's going to forgive them because they apologized._ '

Laki stared blankly at the pirates for a moment before looking at Luffy.

"If you get blood all over my dinghy, I swear I'm not giving you any snacks and all you'll get are meals for three days."

The massive lion stared blankly at the terrified duo for a moment before nodding at them, transforming into a small, short-furred black cat and laying back down on his pillow.

The two conscious Buggy pirates and Zoro gaped at this.

"That little cat... was that huge lion?"

"Laki ate the Lion Lion fruit and became a... lion cat, I guess I can say, though it's redundant," Luffy shrugged.

"D... Did the other ones eat devil fruits, too?" Zoro tentatively asked.

"No, just Laki."

"I see..." Zoro stared blankly at the suddenly formidable-looking tiny fluffball of doom.

"But you shouldn't underestimate them, either. They're all badass," Luffy grinned and turned to stare at the two other pirates (who were bowing and apologizing profusely to him). "Anyway, why were you three shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean anyway?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Good question!" The one who fainted woke up. Luffy sweatdropped.

"That girl!" One growled.

"Yeah! That bad girl!" The spokesman grit his teeth.

"But, she's really cute, too!" The overweight one grinned.

"The three of us just finished robbing a ship, and on the way back..." The one with odd hair reminisced as the spokesman beat up the overweight one. "We saw a dinghy just drifting in the middle of the ocean. When we came closer, we found a girl who seemed almost dead! She asked us to save her and offered a chest of treasure to save her, but when we went to see the treasure first, she stole our boat AND our treasure - and her treasure box was empty! Then a small storm appeared right when she said it would, and our boat ended up sinking! She sailed away and left us to die, and that's what happened!"

"Terrible, huh?!" The spokesman exclaimed, having finished beating up his friend.

"She can predict the weather... This girl must be something special!" Zoro mused. "I wonder if she'd join us..."

' _Nami..._ ' Luffy mused, looking out at the horizon where the bird had long since disappeared. ' _I'll have to meet you to decide if I want you on my crew, but, either way, I'll still save you. No one deserves what you've gone through and the life you'll end up living - or not - if I don't... The burden of the future is a difficult one to bear._ '

"If I find her, I'm gonna kill her," One of the Buggy pirates grumbled.

"First, we've got to get our loot back!"

"Yeah, if we go back empty-handed, Buggy-sama will..."

"Who's Buggy?" Zoro rose an eyebrow.

"Buggy 'The Clown'. Pirate. Bounty: fifteen million berries. Rumored devil fruit user. Loves cannons," Luffy stated. "Don't you read the newspaper?"

* * *

"Stop! You can't run from us!" A pirate shouted.

"Thief! Give back our navigation map!" Another demanded.

A short-haired young woman was huffing as she ran away from the men closely chasing her.

"I finally have it! The navigation chart to the Grand Line!" She breathed, holding it tightly in her hand. "But these guys are so persistent...!"

"Damnit! If we don't get that map back, we're dead!" One of her pursuers growled.

* * *

"You still have not caught the thief...?" A man questioned, side-eyeing his subordinate.

"W-we're in the middle of searching, captain!" The subordinate said, holding his hands up placatingly.

"How on earth did it even get stolen?! We're talking about the map to the Grand Line here, right?! It got stolen?!" The captain demanded. "We were going into the Grand Line soon... to go in and start doing our business..."

"Well, you see, captain, we lost it through a big mistake. Some idiot left the key in the lock of the cabinet the map was in, and the key ended up being lost. Our guess is some nosey person must have snuck in and stolen it."

"What did you say...?" The blue-haired clown-like captain growled.

"I said we made a _big_ mistake so some _nose_ y person must have snuck in and-"

"WHADDYA MEAN BY BIG NOSE?!"

" _EHH?!_ "

"Does my nose look funny to you? Like a big nose?!" The Captain growled, holding the man close to him by the throat.

"N-n-no! I was talking about the thief, sir!" The man pleaded. "We al _read_ y sent-!"

"WHAT?! A BIG AND RED NOSE?!" The devil fruit user shrieked.

" _EHHH?!_ "

"DIE A PAINFUL DEATH!"

"W-WAIT, CAPTAIN! I NEVER SAID-!"

" **Who am I**?!" The man growled as his crew member clutched at his throat and began seemingly levitating in the air.

"C-captain... Buggy!" He wheezed.

The pirate captain was sitting on a throne-like chair , facing the choking man as his crew surrounded them, looking on in shock.

"C-can't... breathe!"

Buggy's crew showed varying amounts of surprise and excitement at the display of their captain's abilities.

"Prepare the cannon," Buggy instructed, smiling devilishly.

"Yes sir!" They shouted.

"I didn't do anything wrong...! HELP ME!" The pirate wailed, still clutching at his throat in desperation.

"Blow him to smithereens!" Buggy ordered.

The man's scream of terror was cut short moments later as the cannon fired with a resounding _Boom!_ , the clownish captain calmly walking away with a satisfied, evil grin still on his lips.

"Recover the map!" He ordered. "And make sure you take all the village's treasure, too!"

"Y-yes sir!" The crew shouted, many of them trembling in fear now. "Captain Buggy!"

* * *

"Ey, hey, we finally landed," Luffy stated, twirling his hat in his hand and ignoring the enemy pirates whispering of what they'd tell their captain now that they'd lost their treasure.

"What's this...? The village is completely empty? I can not see anyone around," Zoro wondered, looking for an explanation from the three buffoons.

"The truth is that our Buggy Pirate Fleet is here at the moment, raiding this village," the chubby one explained, grinning uncomfortably and rubbing the back of his head.

Luffy frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when a resounding boom echoed throughout the village. "Aw, _Hell_ , naw!"

* * *

At that moment, both the young woman and her pursuers let out a sharp cry and fell to the ground as the large explosion shook the very ground beneath their feet.

"What...?" The girl whispered, looking to her right. where the entire row of houses had been decimated as far as she could see. ' _Oh, no... The Buggy Pirates did this, didn't they?! This is why I hate pirates! What did this town do to deserve this?! That almost killed me, too!_ '

"Wasn't that one of the Special Buggy Bombs?! Yeesh, it nearly hit us!" One of them complained as they stood up, dusting their clothes off.

"Ehehehe, at least it helped us catch up to the thief!" Another one grinned as they surrounded her, her eyes widening in terror while her hand traced over the pieces of her staff strapped under her skirt.

The third laughed and popped his knuckles. "We owe our thanks to the Captain, then!"

The orange haired thief prepared to fight for her life.

* * *

Several minutes later found Luffy and Zoro walking around the barren village, searching for any signs of life.

"Maybe they ran away; I don't see any blood," Luffy suggested.

"Neither do I," Zoro agreed, glancing around. "But where are those pirates hiding...?"

"Well, the explosion came from this general direction," Luffy shrugged, gesturing to his right. "Let's go this way."

Luffy turned and began walking in the direction he had signified.

Zoro nodded firmly. "Alright."

The swordsman promptly went in the opposite direction his captain was walking.

* * *

 _ **I'm very sorry for the wait. A bunch of things came up so I wasn't able to post this chapter sooner. I hope Zoro's lack of sense of direction makes up for it. I now have up to roughly chapter 15 completely done already, and the next few outlined. I know this one is kinda short, but there wasn't much I wanted to put in this chapter.**_

 _ **If that wasn't enough to make you forgive me... here's a preview of the next chapter! :D :D :D**_

 _Luffy froze, his eyes wide as he stared at a lone figure sitting in front of a building._

 _His heart began beating erratically as he stared at the small, petite, figure who had obviously seen better days..._

 _...Their hair looked so soft, and he couldn't help but have the urge to run his fingers through it, to see how soft it really was._

...

" _Awh, shucks. I lost my marimo."_

...

" _There's no way I'll EVER team up with a bunch of pirates!"_

...

' _This guy... He's so strong! Maybe I should team up with him after all... Just for a little while, though!'_

...

" _Don't kid yourselves. I'm only doing this for the money, that's it!"_

...

" _If she turns out to be nicer than she's acting right now, I'll consider making her cookies. If she's really nice, I'll even make her some cake."_

" _Again, what the hell does that have to do with anything?!"_

" _Why the hell would I care about you making me cookies and cake?!"_

" _Well, that's pretty simple, actually..."_

" _AND WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THE CATS?!"_

 _ **Dat's it for your preview. Till Wednesday! :D**_


	8. Chapter 6

Lavi decided he was tired of staying on the dinghy and wanted to explore. Luffy hadn't asked him to watch the boat this time, so he didn't feel obliged to do so (though he didn't blame Luffy for ever wanting him to watch the boat; after all, he was Lavi the Lion). The other cats wanted to sleep and sunbathe, so they stayed to defend the boat from anyone stupid enough to warrant it.

* * *

Luffy hummed, twirling his hat in his hand as he stared at a straight line of houses that had been demolished by Buggy and his crew.

"Well, this sucks. I'm assuming Buggy and his crew are responsible for this... I hope nobody was caught up in it," Luffy hummed. "Well... Looks like it came from _this_ way."

The captain calmly continued walking through the deserted town for a few blocks, making a turn here and there, until...

Luffy froze, his eyes wide as he stared at a lone figure sitting in front of a building.

His heart began beating erratically as he stared at the small, petite, figure who had obviously seen better days.

The figure's hair was short, and dirty. Their body was riddled with injuries that obviously came from having fought their hardest for something. Their hair looked so soft, and he couldn't help but have the urge to run his fingers through it, to see how soft it really was.

The young man trailed his eyes across this figure's body, blushing furiously as he did so. He was in love at first sight, he knew. He could see himself spending the rest of his life with this one.

"Zoro... do you see this perfection?" He whispered, eyes wide.

His heart beating in excitement, chest warm, cheeks on fire and eyes alit with unconditional love, he rushed towards the small, white dog sitting in front of the pet food store, fully intending to force his love unto his unsuspecting victim in the form of hugs, kisses, belly rubs and behind-the-ear scratching.

He ignored the fact he hadn't heard Zoro saying anything for the past few minutes.

* * *

Zoro huffed, scowled and scratched his head, looking around at the barren town. " _Honestly_. I can't _believe_ that idiot went and got himself _lost_."

On the other side of town, a certain straw-hatted captain (who wasn't actually lost) sneezed as he cuddled the unwilling and thoroughly confused dog.

* * *

"Captain! We've captured the thief!" A pirate shouted, bursting through a door onto the roof of a bar.

"Oh? Bring her in, then!" Buggy grinned.

"Yes, sir!"

Two men emerged from the door, dragging a petite woman along with them. They threw her down in front of the captain, who was sitting on a throne-like chair. The young woman defiantly glared up at the pirate.

"And we have the map, too!" One pirate boasted, holding the said very important item up.

"Good work, men," Buggy praised, lounging on his chair, head on hand. "Did you really think that you could get away with stealing from the great Buggy Pirates, girl? MEN! Who am I?!"

"Captain Buggy the Clown, sir!" They shouted, saluting him.

The bruised and battered girl glared up at the pirates before suddenly changing her demeanor.

"Oh, no!" She looked horrified. "You're _the_ Buggy the Clown?! I'm so sorry, I didn't know! I never thought I'd actually ever meet the great Buggy or his crew! Please, forgive me!"

Buggy looked taken aback. " _Huh_? Well. it's great that you know how amazing I am at all, but do you really think I'd forgive you just because you asked?! Men, throw her in the cage!"

' _Damnit!_ ' She grit her teeth as two pirates grabbed her under her arms and rose her to her feet. ' _No way I'm going out like this! I still have things I need to do!_ '

"No, really! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" She pouted, making herself appear as cute and sexy as she could. "I actually really admire you a lot!"

The pirates merely laughed at her as Buggy smirked. "Well... when you put it that way..." He paused, staring her directly in her eyes. "... maybe you shouldn't have pissed me off."

That said, the girl decided that flattery apparently would get her nowhere here. Her leg kicked out in a flash, digging itself straight into one of the men's - _ah hem_ \- _private areas_ , and jabbed the other in the face before she took a run for it towards where she had been brought in. She had almost reached the door when she was tackled by several of the pirates, bound and shoved rather roughly into the cage.

' _It's okay... I've been in worse situations before!_ ' The girl consoled herself. ' _This is nothing. I'll be fine._ '

Buggy laughed and the pirate who had had his manly parts abused glared as she silently seethed in the cage.

"Let's show this girl just what's going to happen to her! Men! Fire a special buggy bomb!" Buggy ordered.

"Yes, sir!" His crew shouted, preparing the cannon and aiming it towards a row of houses.

"Fire!"

No sooner had that command been uttered did the cannon explode, fully decimating another row of houses.

The thief look on in pure terror at the sheer destructive power her captors wielded so casually.

* * *

Luffy tensed and the dog jumped up from its position with his belly exposed as an explosion vibrated the ground and nearly deafened them. Luffy looked behind himself with wide eyes.

The entire line of buildings behind him had been completely decimated, the rubble just now settling to the ground.

"Holy mother of ducks," he whispered as the small dog began growling. ' _Who the hell would just do that...?! I am SO kicking their collective asses!_ '

"Zoro, we have asses to whoop. Let's go," the pirate declared, putting his hat back on his head and standing.

Luffy paused for a moment, waiting for an answer, before looking around himself.

"... Zoro?"

"..." The dog stopped growling to stare blankly at Luffy. Luffy, in return, stared blankly at the dog.

"Awh, shucks. I lost my marimo."

* * *

"What the hell _was_ that?!" Zoro growled, looking towards the sound of the explosion. "I bet that's where Luffy's gonna be, anyway! Stupid, directionless idiot!"

* * *

The thief trembled as the pirates aimed the cannon directly at her, an action which took several excruciating minutes, all of which she spent trying to figure out how to get out of her current situation. She had trying reasoning, flirting, fiddling with the lock, and more, but nothing was working, and they were getting ready to fire.

The pirates smiled at her in sick glee as one held up a match box.

"Ehehehe... this is what you get for messing with the Buggy Pirates!" He smirked.

"That's right," Buggy smirked, "this is what you get. Blow her to smithereens, men!"

' _This is it?_ ' she thought, biting her lip and hanging her head low, fighting the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. ' _Am I just going to die like this? I'm going to be killed by a bunch of stupid pirates even though I still have so much to do? Nojiko... Genzo... Belle-mere... everyone... I'm so sorry! Even though I was so close!_ '

The pirate lit the match and moved it towards the cannon's fuse as his crewmates cheered him on.

The fuse was about to light when the pirates collectively jumped up in fright at a sudden low growl piercing through the air.

"W-what _was_ that?" The pirates paled. "Was that Richie?"

"No! Richie's still over with the ship!" Another replied.

" _You're acting like a baby!_ " The pirates barely heard the voice snapping. The pirates gulped as the growl once more sounded.

"Who the hell is the flashy bastard?" Buggy wondered.

" _No means no. You can't have it._ "

 _ **Ggggrrrrooowwlllll!**_

" _Well EXCUSE ME for not wanting to stoop to a house-robber! If you want it that bad, we'll buy it sometime, but we're not stealing it!_ "

 _... Grrrrrr..._

" _Yeah, you BETTER chill. Freaking pushy cat._ "

 _ **GROWLLLLLL!**_

" _I ain't takin' it back. You know what I said is true._ "

' _The voice is getting closer!_ ' The young woman realized, her eyes widening.

"Who _are_ those flashy idiots?" Buggy wondered. "It sounds like they're getting closer. Bounty hunters, maybe?"

"Ah! Buggy, captain, they're right down there!" One crew member shouted, pointing over the side of the building.

* * *

"Honestly, Lavi, sometimes you're way too stubborn!" Luffy complained to his now-kitten sized (and very grumpy) companion, who snorted back at him. "You're also very feisty. Feisty little cutie! Ehehe!"

"Hey, you! Flashy bastard!"

Luffy blinked, looking around. "Who dat?"

Lavi sighed, then pointed his paw up at the top of a building a little ways in front of them.

Luffy blinked, looking up at the roof, where a lot of people were gathered. "The hell are you? Clowns? _Ohhh_! You must be the assholes destroying this place!"

"Hoohh?" The one with the big, red nose rose an eyebrow. "What, were you looking for me?"

"Actually, yes. I'm here to beat the living shit out of you. You pissed me off, you big-nosed freak," Luffy smiled, knowing exactly what how his words would affect the other pirate.

' _Is this guy an idiot?!_ " The orange-haired thief was surprised, to say the least, and afraid for this stranger who had temporarily saved her. She moved towards the door of the cage, keeping a watchful eye on her captors.

"BIG-NOSED FREAK?!" Buggy shrieked. "DIE A PAINFUL DEATH, YOU FLASHY BASTARD! PREPARE THE BUGGY CANNON!"

"B-but sir! What about the girl?!"

"FORGET ABOUT HER FOR NOW! THIS ONE DIES FIRST!"

"Y-yes sir!"

The girl immediately moved away from the door of the cage as they hurried to the cannon. ' _He's gonna die now! Even though he's an idiot I feel sorry for him. I should be able to escape now, though, with the pirates distracted. I can't lose this chance!_ '

"Nyahahahahahaaaa!" Luffy threw his head back and laughed heartily. "A cannon? Oh, this is precious. _Buggy_ cannon? Now that's just fail, red-nose!"

' _He's an idiot._ ' The girl mourned.

" _ **WHAAAAT?! A BIG AND RED, FREAKY NOSE?!**_ " Buggy shrieked, livid.

"Is that your normal nose or is it just there to go along with the clown-theme? I'm genuinely curious."

" _ **IT'S MY NATURAL NOSE, YOU FLASHY IDIOT!**_ "

"Oh..." Luffy slowly blinked and was silent for a moment. "Well... that's unfortunate."

"Sir, the Buggy Cannon is ready!" A crewmember shouted, and Luffy noted that the cannon was indeed pointing directly at him and Lavi, who was sitting to his right and licking his paw. Oh! Lavi was licking his _pawww!_

" _Ooooowhhhhhh_ , you're so cuuuuute!" Luffy squealed, kneeling down and petting Lavi along his back. Lavi rolled his eyes, but Luffy didn't even notice.

' _Definitely an idiot._ ' The thief decided.

"KILL HIM!" Buggy shouted.

Suddenly, Luffy's eyes widened dramatically. "Don't do that!"

Buggy smirked. "Tell me, you flashy bastard, why the HELL I shouldn't kill you?"

Luffy's eyes immediately hardened and he stated, very firmly. " _Because people die when they are killed_."

"..."

Everyone silently stared blankly at the young man for at least half a minute.

"No, _really_?" Buggy - rather sarcastically - asked, finally. "I _never_ would have realized that before."

"It's true," Luffy stated solemnly. "Many people nowadays don't seem to realize that. Death is _final_. Life is _precious_. You shouldn't kill people willy-nilly."

"And who the hell are you to be giving me moral life lessons? I'm a pirate! I don't care about that stuff!" Buggy snapped.

"Me? I'm Monkey D Luffy, the man who will become the pirate king!" The young man smirked, a hand on his hat.

Veins began pulsing on Buggy's head as his eyes widened in fury. "DON'T KID AROUND, YOU IDIOTIC FOOL! YOU, THE PIRATE KING?! THEN I'M A GOD! THE PERSON WHO WILL GET HIS HANDS ON ALL THE TREASURE IN THE WORLD WILL BE _ME_! DON'T EVEN DREAM ABOUT IT!"

"Well, _someone_ 's angry!" Luffy chuckled. "You wanna _make_ me not even dream about it?"

"FIRE THE SPECIAL BUGGY BOMB! FIRE IT _NOW_!" He screamed.

The sound of the cannon firing once more echoed through the town.


	9. Chapter 7

"FIRE THE SPECIAL BUGGY BOMB! FIRE IT _NOW_!" A man's voice screamed, and a moment later the sound of a cannon firing echoed through the town. Then, utter silence reigned.

Zoro frowned. "That came from... here, didn't it? And where's the explosion?"

His ear twitched as it picked up the unmistakable sound of his captain laughing hysterically. His pace quickened and he soon found himself in front of his captain (holding a cannon ball) and the lion from before standing in front of a building, on the top of which a bunch of clowns were crowded.

Zoro blinked and sweatdropped. Why were they all clowns? He shook his head. That didn't matter. "Oi, Luffy! There you are! What the hell are you doing? You walk off and get lost, I finally find you and you're in a fight with a bunch of clowns?"

Luffy turned to his swordsman, grinning widely. "Oh, Zoro. Nice to see you! Whaddya mean _I_ got _lost_? That was _you_. _You_ were supposed to be following _me_ , not the other way around."

Zoro's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?! You said to go that way, I did, and you disappeared! YOU got lost!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Luffy asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "I gestured to go right, and I went right. Were you lost ever since _then_?"

A vein pulsed on the swordsman's forehead. "I WAS _NOT_ LOST!"

While they were 'arguing,' the Buggy pirates whispered amongst themselves.

" _Oi, did he say Zoro?_ "

" _He did!_ "

" _As in Roronoa Zoro?_ "

" _Never mind that, did that one kid eat a devil fruit?!_ "

" _Yeah, what was all that white stuff?!_ "

Buggy grit his teeth, veins pulsing on his forehead. "You flashy bastard... you ate a devil's fruit, didn't you?" He asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

Luffy's attention immediately focused back on Buggy. "I did," he confirmed.

"Which one?"

"I heard you ate one, too. Which one did _you_ eat?" He countered.

"Why would I tell you that and give up my advantage?" Buggy smirked.

"And that's my answer to your question, as well," Luffy grinned. "You've seen it in action a little. Do you have any guesses? It's always fun to hear people guessing what it is. I enjoy games."

A vein pulsed on Buggy's forehead. "You think this is a _game_?!"

The straw-hatted pirate merely continued with his menacing grin... "Hey, clowns. Want your cannon ball back?" He asked, repeatedly bouncing the cannon ball into the air.

The enemy pirates blinked, glancing at each other in confusion. "Do we want it back...?"

Lavi chuffed his laughter, a sadistic look in his eyes as Luffy stopped bouncing the ball and held it out as if he were offering it to the pirates on the roof. Zoro glanced between the two with suspicion in his eyes as the clown pirates stared in confusion at their adversaries.

" _ **Nubes Exactis**_."

The clown pirates could hardly believe their eyes when a rush of white was suddenly rushing at them, the cannonball a mere spec in the onslaught. The thick clouds turned to fog mere feet away from the roof, but the cannon ball did not stop. With speed far surpassing the speed it had been shot from the cannon with, it flew at the pirates and blew up when it skimmed the rail along the edges of the earth. The fog rushed forward still and combined itself with the smoke from the cannon ball, forming a thick smog.

The reaction was instant when the pirates breathed in: they began coughing and looking around.

"Shit... I can't see anything!" One gasped. "What is this?!"

* * *

The girl stiffened as the explosion shook the building she was sneaking around in. The explosion hadn't occurred outside as she thought it would; no, the explosion had _hit the building itself_. What were those stupid clowns _doing_? It couldn't have been that one idiot who had been taunting Buggy. That was impossible; he hadn't had a cannon, had he? She hadn't actually _seen_ him. Maybe the cannon blew up?

She froze when she heard the sound of feet harshly hitting the ground above her, moving towards the staircase she had just left. The pirates were coming down, _fast_. She cursed under her breath and dashed into a room, closing the door just as the first pirates came running down the stairs. She held her breath as the men ran past the room she had locked herself into, and carefully listened to anything they were saying to figure out the situation.

" _That flashy bastard! How dare he!_ " That captain shouted in anger.

 _Had it really been that man from before?!_ She couldn't believe it. He had seemed like a complete idiot when he so blatantly challenged Buggy. Was there actually reason to his idiocy?

" _Shiiit! The fire is spreading fast! Get out of here! HURRY!_ " Another cried out.

The thief paled. The building was on fire?!

" _What kind of devil fruit did that freak eat?!_ "

" _I don't know, man!_ "

Devil fruit? Those were just myths, weren't they? She frowned, her eyebrows pushing together. What were those pirates _talking_ about? She thought hard, trying to figure out what was going on as the sound of the pirates running down the hallway quieted. She didn't believe devil fruits were real. If the pirates were crazy enough to truly believe in such a thing, she could likely dismiss the fire as also false, but she would be careful of it, anyway, just in case they weren't _completely_ crazy.

The thief listened hard to make sure they were all gone, only daring to exit when she was certain they had left. She had already searched the room she was in.

After searching several more rooms (all of which, sadly, held no treasure), she realized it was getting warmer. So they weren't imagining the fire like they must've been about the devil fruit! She grit her teeth when the ceiling began cracking and rushed to and down the stairs. She had to get out, _now_. The ceiling was cracking, so the building was coming down. Should many more supports fall, it might come down on her; the ceiling cracking was also the roof.

With a loud crash, she heard the building's top level collapse and cursed. She was still on the second story, now, not even on the ground floor yet. She chanced a glance behind her as the temperature continued rising and nearly screamed when she saw the fiery inferno spreading on the floor she was on through the stairwell; in her haste, she had forgotten to close the door to keep the fire somewhat contained. She pushed herself faster, faster, _faster_ to get out.

The pirates were right; this fire was spreading _fast_! The thief grit her teeth, her eyes set on the window at the end of the hallway. She would have to jump. She could handle the jump; she's jumped further than the second story of a building and survived easily. It was the pirates she was worried about. It was possible they had lingered; should they still be there, she'd need to make a run for it, or fight, should she be surrounded. She was _not_ going to die today! She had too much left to do!

The girl came to a halt when a portion of the roof in front of her came crashing down, bringing fire with it. Her eyes widened and she looked behind her. The fire was close. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest. She was trapped. What could she do?

* * *

 _Several minutes earlier..._

* * *

Luffy and Zoro looked on as the majority of the clown pirates lay groaning in pain on the ground, courtesy of the small, black cat lazily licking his paw. Buggy and a man with strange hair and a lion (who had just gotten there), save one who had run off (likely to warn any other members of the crew) had been the only ones quick enough to dodge the single attack Lavi had launched at each of them.

"That cat..." Buggy growled, eyeing Lavi, who ignored him. "It also ate a Devil's Fruit."

The man with strange hair humphed, striding forward and laughing. "But it's still a mere cat! I am the great Beast Tamer Mohji! I can tame any animal!" He boasted, striding forward and getting on a knee before Lavi. He held out his hand. "Shake."

Luffy bit his bottom lip, holding in his laughter as Lavi... completely ignored him.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Luffy, Zoro and Buggy stared at Mohji, Mohji stared at Lavi, and Lavi ignored everyone in favor of licking his paw.

Lavi placed his paw back on the ground, yawned, and slowly turned to Mohji.

Mohji stared at the cat, annoyed, and once again demanded, " _Shake_."

Lavi stared at Mohji, his eyes slowly narrowed, his head lifted so that he was looking at Mohji down his nose.

Mohji leaned slightly closer. "Now, kitty cat, lift your paw and shake my hand," he instructed, offering his hand closer to Lavi.

Lavi continued merely glaring at the offending appendage, his fur beginning to puff out a bit as he growled lowly.

"Y'know..." Luffy slowly drawled. "Lavi doesn't _like_ people telling him what to do. The only person he really listens to is _me_ , and that's only because we've been through so much together. Cats are, by nature, independent creatures; they're not dogs."

 _Thwak-thwak-POW!_

Mohji let out a surprised yell and fell backward. His cheeks puffed up and bled from several scratches given to him by the small fuzzball seated in front of him, who hissed in anger, a paw still half-risen.

"Why, you...!" He growled, glaring at the cat. He reached out as if to grab him, earning himself several more, _harder_ thwacks upon the head, his claws out.

Lavi hissed, his size nearly doubling as his fur puffed out as Mohji groaned in pain, taking several steps back.

"Richie! Get him!" Mohji shouted, jumping on his lion's back.

"RAWRR!" Richie the Lion roared, lunging at the small, fluffed black cat.

Lavi deftly dodged out of the way, and Richie immediately turned and pounced once again, only to be dodged once more.

" _ **MrrrrRRRAAWWWWRRRGHHHHHHH!**_!" Lavi's scream turned into a roar as his deep black fur turned dark gold, and he swiftly grew much, much larger, a deep, rustic gold mane also growing around his neck. " **Grrrrr...** "

Overall, Lavi looked much more refined than Richie did, and he knew it, growling off a little taunt sharing this view with Richie.

Richie did not appreciate this taunt. He growled his retort angrily and roared as he lunged at Lavi. Using Richie's momentum against him, he moved to the side and slapped Richie _hard_ , making him slam against the ground, out cold. Due to the speed at which Richie was sent flying, Mohji also slammed against the ground hard enough to send him unconscious.

Satisfied, Lavi turned back into his smaller form and began daintily licking the paw he had used to strike.

"Mohji!" Buggy, angry and surprised at the swift defeat, glared at his enemies.

Luffy hummed, his eyes now on the flaming building behind the large pile of defeated pirates. "That building's probably going to be coming down, soon. The fire damage is pretty severe."

Zoro shrugged, taking his eyes off the now bathing cat. "That's expected when a building is hit by a cannon ball; I'm surprised it's even still standing."

No sooner had he said that did a loud cracking sound filled the air; the roof of the building caved in and a large billow of flames grew.

"God... _damn it_ , Zoro!" Luffy exclaimed, his eyes widened. "You jinxed it!"

Zoro jerked in surprise, his eyes widened. " _Huh_?! How was that MY fault?!"

"It just _is_ ," Luffy huffed, folding his arms across his chest, as Buggy laughed hysterically, shrugging off Mohji and Richie's overwhelming defeat.

"Gyahahahahahaha!" Buggy threw back his head and laughed some more. "Either way, that blasted thief is long dead by now! She was still trapped in that cage when you hit us with our cannon ball!"

Luffy's attention snapped to Buggy. "Thief?" He couldn't mean...

"Yes! That blasted thief!" Buggy growled. "That woman dared to try and steal from the great Buggy!"

Luffy was pretty sure that he was talking about Nami, but, either way, he hadn't meant to get someone else caught up in this. If someone innocent (from pissing him off) died because of that fire, it'd be _his_ fault, and he didn't like that.

Luffy didn't bother to wait for Buggy to say anything else; he rushed steam past the enemy pirates and into the building. Steam filled the building completely, so that he could find her as fast as possible and save her. He noted that the burning cage in the ruins of the caved in roof was open and empty.

It took mere seconds to find her, trapped by fire in the middle of the second floor's main hallway, looking around for a way out, to no avail.

The loud sound of the ceiling cracking above them turned both of their attentions upwards, and Luffy rushed to surround her in his clouds.

" _ **Fristad!**_ "

The thief shrieked as the ceiling continued cracking, the portion in front of her quickly becoming the least of her worries as the building above her began falling.

As the floor above her began crumbling, she was swiftly surrounded by white and she fell, landing on something surprisingly soft.

The young thief froze, her eyes wide as she took in her new surroundings. Slowly, she looked around, but saw nothing but white and grey, even underneath her. The orange-haired girl gulped, sweat trickling down her forehead as her hands felt the soft substance surrounding her.

"A... am I... dead?" She whispered, trembling.

"STOP IGNORING ME, YOU FLASHY BASTARD!"A voice screeched.

"LOOK OUT!" Another shouted.

 _Fwoosh!_

A knife suddenly flew straight at Luffy, and he deftly caught it by the hilt, his hand squeezing the clown's detached one.

"What do you want?" The man huffed, turning his attention to an enraged Buggy. "I'm kinda busy here."

Buggy's eye twitched with anger. "You flashy bastard... I'm talking to you! How dare you ignore me?!"

"So, your devil fruit ability has to do with you being able to separate parts of your body," Luffy rose an eyebrow at the disembodied hand as it flew back to its owner. "A paramecia, huh?"

Buggy smirked, holding up the newly reattached hand, spinning a knife. "The Bara Bara no Mi! That's the fruit I ate. No matter how you try to cut me up, you can't, because I'm a sectioned man!"

"I see," Luffy nodded calmly.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Lavi yawned.

A vein pulsed on Buggy's forehead. "You should be trembling with fear! I, the great Buggy the Clown, am going to kill you, Straw Hat!" The bluenette's face was rather red in anger, his voice having raised several pitches in his short tirade.

Luffy calmly deadpanned. "Okay. You're gonna have to wait a minute, though. I have to check if the little missy is injured."

Buggy paused for a moment, his teeth bared and an eyebrow risen, "What little missy? You can't mean..."

Buggy's eyes widened as a large, white sphere suddenly came into his field of vision from his left. His jaw dropped rather comically as his eyes bulged in shock and disbelief, though he quickly composed himself. He watched as it moved at a slow yet steady pace before coming to a stop next to the straw-hatted pirate. All but the bottom of the sphere dissipated into steam, and after a moment of downward drifting, the bottom, too, dissipated, gently setting its alarmed passenger on the ground.

The clown pirate bared his clenched teeth, veins protruding in anger on his forehead and neck. "How is that thief still alive?!"

The aforementioned thief whirled to face him with wide open eyes. Frantically, she glanced around trying to piece together her situation. Her eyes immediately snapped to the man beside her when he knelt down.

"Are you hurt at all?" He asked smoothly, smiling warmly.

Nami blinked and paused for a moment before answering. "I- I'm okay," she stuttered.

"That's good," he nodded, "then please wait here while I take care of this. It'll only take a few minutes."

"You... Are you that idiot who was challenging the pirate crew all by yourself?!" She asked suddenly.

It was Luffy's turn to blink as Zoro busted out laughing at his captain's expense. "... I'll overlook that comment for now. Stay there or you'll be in the way of the fight."

"And why should I?!" Nami demanded. "How am I even alive, and out here, right now?! I was trapped in that burning building just a minute ago!"

"You're alive because I saved you," Luffy grumbled, standing up with a hand on his hat and turning to face Buggy. "And, for your information, I wasn't alone. I had Lavi with me, and now I have Zoro."

"Zoro?" Nami's jaw dropped. "As in Roronoa Zoro, _the pirate hunter_? Are you a bounty hunter, too?"

"Hmph," Zoro grunted, a hand resting on his swords. "I don't remember ever calling myself a pirate hunter. Either way, I've given up that profession, now."

"Though I don't think we can quite call ourselves a crew, yet. First, we at least need a ship, and preferably to fill in crucial members, like a doctor, navigator, shipwright and a cook. We at least need a navigator and a cook before we go, and a doctor would be _really_ helpful. A musician would be nice, as well. Maybe a sniper." Luffy hummed.

"Sounds good to me," Zoro grinned. "Remember, we need to stock up on booze."

Luffy snickered at his swordsman. "You and booze..."

"STRAW HAT!" Buggy shrieked, anger practically emanating from him. "Before you start making plans for your future, hurry up and DIE!"

"LOOK OUT!" Nami cried out, once more beginning to panic as a knife flew towards the man who claimed to have saved her. She froze in horror when he merely grinned as the knife plunged into his body... and went straight through him. Her eyes shadowed over as she grit her teeth and clenched her fists, anger building inside her as the clown pirate laughed hysterically. _Pirates_. _They're all evil, they're all monsters_. _Always killing people without a second thought, without hesitation-_

"Sorry, but that won't work on me."

Buggy immediately stopped laughing with a confused "huh?" and Nami's head snapped up, her eyes wide, and she focused on where he had been pierced. There was a hole... outlined by something white... with something that looked a lot like steam emitting from it. She paled with fear. "... What? What is that?! Hey, how are you still alive?!"

Zoro smirked. "My Captain isn't the type of person who can be killed so easily."

"People in the East Blue right now don't have a chance at beating me. I'll start taking people seriously when I get to the Grand Line," Luffy shrugged, pouting.

Nami's jaw partially dropped in shock. "That kind of thinking is going to get you KILLED! And what do you mean the Grand Line?!"

"STRAW HAT! I _KNOW_ that hit you! How are you still standing?!" Buggy screeched.

"CAPTAIN BUGGY!" A voice shouted, and everyone's attention turned to the newcomers.

"... Why are you riding a unicycle?"

Luffy's tentative question was ignored. "Cabaji!" Buggy scowled. "You're finally here."

"Captain," the black-haired man on a unicycle greeted, looking around, "this is the biggest humiliation we've ever received under our pirate flag!"

Buggy's arms were crossed and his eyes were shadowed. "I'm so angry, words fail me," he agreed.

"Captain, allow me to take care of these pests," the man on the unicycle said, and once Buggy nodded and gave him the go-ahead, he bent his head back and reached inside his mouth, pulling out a sword.

As he pulled it out of his throat, Luffy's expression immediately turned to one of utter disgust. "... That is _so gross_..."

Nami was pale. Who was _this_ weirdo? He seemed dangerous.

Zoro eyed him with slight interest.

"Buggy's Pirate Fleet Commander 'Cabaji the Acrobat'!" He shouted, wheeling toward Luffy at a high speed. "I'll avenge the pain you've caused to my crew!"

Before he could reach Luffy, Zoro unsheathed his two black katana and was in front of Luffy, blocking Cabaji's sword with one of his own.

"If it's swords, I'm all for it," Zoro stated, his eyes boring into his newfound opponent's.

"It's an honour, Roronoa Zoro. As a swordsman, I get to slay you," he smirked.

"Hoh?" Zoro smirked slightly. "We'll see about that."

Cabaji smirked. " _ **Kyokugi! Kaji Oyaji!**_ " Fire breathed out from Cabaji's mouth, briefly engulfing Zoro's upper body.

"Gack!" He cried out, cringing away from it and parrying Cabaji's next blow. His eyes narrowed, and with a mildly annoyed tsk, he pushed his opponent away, moving in for a short series of strikes, testing the other man's strength.

Cabaji was narrowly blocking and dodging Zoro's strikes when one of Zoro's slashes came so close to hitting his opponent that it cut off a few inches of his hair. The attacks rested for a few moments and the clown pirate glowered at his lock of hair floating to the ground.

"Why, you..." Cabaji growled, his feet working on the unicycle.

Zoro sighed, resting a blade on his shoulder. He leaned backward, his head looking up at the sky as the clown prepared to use another trick. "Enough. I'm tired."

Cabaji's eyes widened briefly and he laughed. "What, you're already tired?! The fight's just started! That's fine, though. Don't think I'll give you any mercy, but if you don't resist anymore I'll grant you a swift death!" He gloated, his eyes gleaming.

Zoro snorted, darting forward and knocking Cabaji off of his unicycle. "I meant I'm tired of this _fight_. It's annoying to have to fight someone so far below my level."

Cabaji's teeth grit, and for a moment his head lowered before he rose it again, glaring at the other pirate. He stood up, his sword clenched in his hand. "How dare you! I'll show you my true skills as a swordsman!" Cabaji roared, charging at Zoro, his sword poised to strike.

Zoro took his stance as well. " _ **Oni... Giri**_!" He stated, his voice low and serious as he rushed forward, his swords striking swiftly and precisely.

Cabaji's sword clattered to the ground as he stood still, his eyes widened in shock. ' _How did he..._ ' He thought, falling to his knees as blood spilled from his chest. "How could the great Buggy Pirates fall... to such no-names...?"

"No-names you may call us, but not for long - we've just started. After all, I'm the man who will become the greatest swordsman, and my captain is the man who will be the pirate king!" Zoro declared, removing _Wado Ichimonji_ from his mouth and sheathing it, turning his back to Cabaji as he finally collapsed into unconsciousness.

Buggy's jaw clenched, his anger clear as day as his face reddened and veins pulsated.

"Well, then," Luffy smirked, a hand on his hip. "I suppose it's our turn, yeah? Stupid clown."

* * *

 _ **A.N.: Guyyyys, I am so sorry for the late late late update! Life got busy! Hopefully I will be able to update this story more often. I'm pretty busy with stuff and I'm currently working on a story (my Black Butler one) which is a prototype for a book idea I have.**_


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